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Typhoon Kestana shaves south China province
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-29 14:19

Typhoon Kestana shaves south China province
A patch of sugarcanes are blown down by the typhoon Kestana, in the farm fields of Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, September 29, 2009. [Xinhua]

HAIKOU/GUANGZHOU: Typhoon Kestana shaved China's southernmost island province of Hainan on Tuesday, heading westward to Vietnam, the meteorological stations in south China monitored.

The typhoon was only 260 km away from Sanya City, Hainan, and had strong winds up to 126 km per hour at its eye Tuesday morning, said the station in south China's Guangdong Province.

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It said that Kestana was moving westward at a speed of 15 km per hour,and is poised for a landfall in Vietnam on Tuesday evening.

Due to the typhoon's effect, Guangdong and Hainan had received heavy downpour and strong gale since Monday.

More than 480,000 people were affected in 13 cities and counties in Hainan and 282 houses collapsed.  More than 100,000 people were relocated,  a provincial emergency office official said on Tuesday.

A total of 34 fishermen were stranded in Xisha Islands. They lived in a small tent set up by themselves Tuesday evening and were expected to be rescued Wednesday noon, he said.

Kestana brought damages to at least 20,000 hectares of cropland in Hainan, creating losses of some 80.63 million yuan (US$11.8 million), he said.

The meteorological stations said that the rainy weather will continue to Wednesday, but the weather is expected to clear on Thursday.

"The typhoon's effect will reduce on Wednesday. The coming 'Golden Week' National Day holiday can expect fair weather, mainly cloudy, which will be suitable for outdoor fun," said Cai Qinbo, director of the Hainan meteorological station.

Sanya City, the most famous beach resort on the island, closed all scenic spots and forbade tourists from going sea swimming on Monday.

The city government ordered all outdoor activities canceled and schools closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Tourists at the Sanya beach saw tides as high as two meters.

The city's airport canceled 40 flights on Monday, leaving 1,220 passengers stranded.

On Tuesday morning, 10 flights took off from the airport, as the air traffic was recovering.

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