Typhoon Koinu heads toward southern China and Hong Kong
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People walk in the rain as Typhoon Koinu approaches to Taiwan in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 4.
BEIJING >> A typhoon headed toward southern China and Hong Kong on Friday after bringing record-breaking winds and leaving one dead in Taiwan.
Typhoon Koinu was weakening as it headed west across the South China Sea toward China’s Guangdong province, the China Meteorological Administration said. It was forecast to turn to the southwest in waters off the coast by Sunday.
The storm was about 370 kilometers (230 miles) from Hong Kong on Friday morning and moving at about 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour, the city government’s Hong Kong Observatory said. Hong Kong was hit by heavy rains about one month ago that killed at least two people and caused widespread flooding.
Ferry service was suspended in parts of Guangdong province, and the city of Guangzhou canceled some flights and trains.
One person was killed by flying glass in the Taiwanese city of Taichung on Thursday and more than 300 others were injured around the island, Taiwan’s fire department said. Pounding rain and wind gusts downed trees and damaged buildings.
Koinu, which means “puppy” in Japanese, brought the fastest wind ever recorded in Taiwan as it approached on Wednesday night.
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A weather monitoring station on outlying Orchid Island measured a gust of 342.7 kph (212.9 mph) at 9:53 p.m., as well as sustained winds that reached 198.7 kph (123.5 kph) at 9:40 p.m. The device measuring the wind speeds broke shortly afterward, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
