Typhoon hits southern China, heads to Vietnam

Huge waves and strong winds are unleashed as Typhoon Kalmaegi lands in China's southermost island of Hainan on Tuesday. [Photo/Xinhua]

A typhoon struck China's southernmost island of Hainan on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights as it headed northwest toward Vietnam.

The hurricane made landfall in Wengtian township, Wenchang city at a speed of 40 meters per second at 9:40 am. It is the fifteenth typhoon to hit China this year.

The provincial capital's Haikou Meilan International Airport canceled 104 flights on Tuesday. The Sanya Phoenix International Airport in the resort city of Sanya canceled 69 flights as of 9 am on Tuesday.

About 90,000 people in southern China were evacuated from high-risk areas ahead of Typhoon Kalmaegi. But the typhoon's course was giving only a glancing blow to southern China as the storm headed toward northern Vietnam, where it was expected to make landfall Tuesday night.

The storm was sending winds of 137 to 144 kilometers per hour (85 to 90 mph) over southern mainland China, according to the country's National Meteorological Center. Hainan's international airport canceled 69 flights, Xinhua said.

Vietnam ordered residents in high-risk areas to evacuate and fishing boats to take shelter.

Typhoon Kalmaegi slammed into the northern Philippines on Monday, unleashing flooding and killing at least two people.