Monday, September 12, 2005

Hurricane Ophelia to hit US coast


Hurricane Ophelia bears down on the east coast of the US tonight but is unlikely to cause the massive devastation seen in Louisiana recently. It has been declared a category 3 hurricane. [CNN] Meanwhile storms are continuing to hit the far east. Typhoon Nabi hit Japan in the week causing widespread property damage and killing at least 25 people [Japan Today]. Taiwan was spared from the onslaught of typhoon Khanun this week but China's southern provinces are being extremely hit hard. Zhejiang province has seen winds of up to 177 kph as the typhoon moved at 30 kph across the country. Nearly a million people have been evacuated throughout the province including 300,000 from Taizhou, a city of over 5 million people. [CNN] China has suffered a series of floods and storms this year and hundreds have perished. Guangdong has been particularly ravaged by storms and flooding. At least 95 died this month when typhoon Talim hit earlier this month. According to Relief Web, quoting official sources, 1,024 have died and at least 293 were missing following floods and landslides that have hit the continent since May 2005. Up to 3,000,000 people have been displaced.[Hurricane/Typhoon Tracker]

[01:57 GMT 12/09/2005]

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