Dozens die in South China storm
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Dozens die in South China storm*
Trees blown over by Tropical Storm Prapiroon at a farm in China's
southern Guangdong province.
Prapiroon strikes
The death toll from Tropical Storm Prapiroon in southern China has risen
to at least 55, with 17 people still missing, state media report.
The storm made landfall on Thursday in Guangdong and has also affected
the provinces of Hunan, Guangxi and Hainan.
It has forced the evacuation of some 530,000 people and caused an
estimated 2.4bn yuan ($300m) worth of damage.
Prapiroon was downgraded from a typhoon on Friday but continues to pound
the region with winds and rain.
It has caused transport chaos in recent days, with thousands of
passengers stranded at Hong Kong airport.
More than six million people were affected by the typhoon, officials said.
Rescue
The latest fatalities include six migrant farm workers whose shelter was
swept away by a flash flood in the city of Laibin in Guangxi province,
Xinhua news agency said.
Earlier, Xinhua reported that one person was killed in a landslide in
the same province, where hundreds of houses and hundreds of acres of
farmland have been destroyed.
Three people died in a landslide in Guangdong, while two more deaths
were caused by lightning. Three more were killed when walls or
billboards fell down, Xinhua said.
A 25-year-old policeman trying to rescue survivors was killed by a
mudslide in Sihui city, Guangdong, the Guangzhou Daily newspaper reported.
State television showed pictures of police and soldiers carrying
children through chest-deep, fast flowing water.
At Hong Kong airport, the cancellation of more than 800 flights on
Thursday left thousands of passengers stranded.
More flights were delayed on Friday, as were flights from Nanning in
Guangxi.
Typhoon Bilis
Ferries between Hainan island, south of Guangdong, and the mainland were
suspended before the typhoon arrived, while rail services were also
disrupted.
More than 53,000 fishing vessels were recalled to harbour, but 68 people
had to be rescued from a barge off the Guangdong coast, Xinhua said.
Eleven million mobile phone text messages were sent warning the public
ahead of the typhoon's arrival, Guangdong's provincial government said
on its website.
Prapiroon, which means "God of Rain" in Thai, also killed six people in
the Philippines.
Southern China has been hit hard by typhoons this season.
More than 600 people died when Typhoon Bilis struck six southern
provinces last month. Hunan was worst affected, with hundreds killed in
flash floods and landslides.
Bilis was followed by Typhoon Kaemi, which caused further destruction in
the area.