BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2018) Super typhoon Mangkhut has reached the coast of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the local meteorological center reported on Sunday.
According to the center, the super typhoon struck the city Jiangmen, namely, its Taishan district, at around 5 p.m. local time (09:00 GMT) on Sunday. Wind gusts reached up to 45 meters per second.
A total of 100,000 persons have been evacuated from the Guangdong province, around 36,000 of fishing schooners have returned to its ports from the sea, flights from Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou airports have been canceled, high speed train movement across the province has been banned, and schools have also been closed.
Around 80,000 people have been evacuated from the neighboring Hainan province, and 24,000 fishing boats have returned to its ports, while all the tourist sites have been closed, and sales of railway tickets have been suspended.
Authorities of the neighboring Macao special administrative region have opened two shelters that can house 24,000 people.
On Saturday, the Chinese Meteorological Administration declared the highest alert level in the south of China over Manghkut approaching. The typhoon has already claimed dozens of lives in the Philippines before moving on to ravage the Chinese coast.
