At least three people killed and more than 40,000 remain displaced by Typhoon Neoguri
Typhoon Neoguri hit southern China on Saturday morning, killing three people. It came ashore as a tropical storm near Yangjiang City in Guangdong, 120 miles west of Hong Kong, after hitting near Wenchang City in the island province of Hainan on Friday.
Guy Carpenter's InstratR unit issued a CAT-i report describing extensive damage to infrastructure in Yangjiang City including 96 million yuan (US$14m) of disruption to the telecommunications industry and industrial facilities in the area.
Neoguri is the first typhoon to hit China this year and is the earliest tropical storm to affect China in 60 years, according to reports from the Xinhau News Agency.
Xinhua News Agency said heavy rains and strong winds affected 274,000 people in Yangjiang City. Neoguri brought heavy rains to Guangdong province with more than 260 millimetres (10 inches) falling per hour in the worst hit regions and over 100 millimetres (4 inches) falling further west in the region. Mudflows killed two people in the southern city of Shenzhen in Guangdong. In Yangjiang City, 7,000 hectares of farmland were affected.
Heavy sea conditions caused the shipping channel of Qiongzhou to close temporarily and 18 fishermen are still missing in the surrounding waters, official reports have said.
State media reported flights and shipping were affected in Hong Kong with nine flights cancelled, 17 diverted and 102 delayed and sea crossings suspended as a direct result of Neoguri.
Prior to hitting mainland China the storm began as a tropical depression west of the Philippines and skirted Hainan province affecting Wenchang City. As a result, 42,000 inhabitants of the province remain displaced.