China on highest alert for super typhoon Chan-Hom

BEIJING: Thousands of people were on Friday evacuated from China's eastern Zhejiang province as the country was put on the highest alert for super typhoon Chan-Hom. The super typhoon, approaching with a windspeed of up to 187 kilometers per hour, is expected to make a landfall tonight or early Saturday between the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. The National Meteorological Center issued a red alert, the highest, for Chan-Hom whose center was spotted 550 kilometers southeast off the coast of Zhejiang Province at 5am on Friday. In Zhejiang, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated and 10,000 fishing vessels returned to harbor for shelter, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The Fujian provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters ordered all people on coastal fishing farms in Ningde, Fuzhou, Pingtan and Putian to be displaced by 10am on Friday. Typhoon Linfa made landfall on Thursday in the southern Guangdong Province, bringing torrential rain to the coastal area. No casualties have been reported. -TOI