BEIJING:
More than 33,000 people in China have been evacuated to safe places as typhoon Lupit, the ninth one this year, made landfall on Thursday in coastal areas of south China”s Guangdong province.
The typhoon landed at around 11:20 AM (local time) in the coastal waters off Nan”ao county in Shantou city, packing winds of up to 24 meters per second at its centre, according to the meteorological observatory of Guangdong.
The province has also shut down 43 seaside scenic spots and bathing beaches, the provincial emergency management department said.
More than 3,500 fishing boats have returned to ports and over 6,200 people, engaged in mariculture in offshore waters, have gone ashore to avoid danger.
Gales and rainfall brought by Lupit will continue in the next three days, officials said.
Heavy rain is expected to lash the southeastern part of Zhejiang, the eastern part of Fujian, most of Guangdong and the southeastern part of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Lupit is the ninth typhoon to hit the country this year, it added.
