A powerful typhoon made landfall in southern China Sunday afternoon, bashing coastal areas and causing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

The National Meteorological Center said Typhoon Mujigae has winds of 180 kph (112 mph) and will drop as much as 280 millimeters (11 inches) of rain in some areas by Monday morning.

The storm will strike the provinces of Guangdong and Hainan the hardest, where thousands of Chinese have flocked during the weeklong National Day holiday that runs through Wednesday. It is expected to weaken as it heads further inland over the next two days.

Scores of flights in and out of Hainan’s main airport in the provincial capital of Haikou have been canceled, and high-speed rail service between Haikou and the tourist center of Sanya was suspended Saturday and Sunday.

More than 60,000 fishing boats returned to port in the two provinces and more than 40,000 fishermen working on fish farms moved to shelters, according to the provincial government websites.

Mujigae blew out of the northern Philippines early Saturday, causing floods and a few landslides and leaving more than a dozen fishermen missing, said regional Office of Civil Defense spokesman Mike Sabado.

More than 150 fishermen had been reported missing at the height of the storm, mostly from the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union, but most sailed back home after taking shelter or were rescued at sea. Thirty fishermen remained unaccounted for on Sunday, Sabado said.

Mujigae, meaning rainbow in Korean, is the 22nd typhoon of the year overall.

Some material for this report came from AP and Reuters.
…