Typhoon alert closes schools in southeast China
( Xinhua) 16:29, September 22, 2013 A powerful typhoon hit China's southeastern coast on Sunday, leaving school classessuspended and disrupting air traffic.
Super Typhoon Usagi was monitored 404 km southeast of Hong Kong at 8 a.m. Sunday,packing winds of 48 meters per second at the storm's eye. It is expected to strike southChina's Pearl River Delta sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Schools in Xiamen City on the eastern coast of Fujian Province and Guangzhou, capital ofGuangdong Province, called off classes on Sunday morning. Fujian suspended shippingtransport between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan as Usagi brought strong winds anddownpours to its offshore region.
On Sunday, major Chinese airlines canceled flights to cities in southern China's Guangdongand Fujian provinces as well as to Hong Kong and Macao due to the possibility that localairports would be battered by heavy rains and strong gales starting at noon on Sunday.
Although the typhoon was still hundreds of kilometers away, related storms have alreadytaken out three major power lines, cutting off electricity supply to about 170,000households in Fujian at 7 a.m.
Electricians from power companies are rushing to repair the damage. By noon, there werestill 25,000 households suffering power outage.
The Fujian Provincial Flood Control Headquarters warned that sea storm tides would posea threat to coastal embankments starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday as the typhoon coincideswith astronomical tide.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying coastal areas in the province.The flood control headquarters has ordered reinforced patrols so that emergency repairscan be made to prevent embankment breaches.
（Editor：HuangJin、Gao Yinan）
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