A powerful typhoon is bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to southern China, prompting flight disruptions and evacuations.
Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall early Tuesday on the island of Hainan, China's southernmost province. The official Xinhua news agency says at least 170 flights were canceled and 90,000 people evacuated from the island's east coast.
Off the coast of southern Guangdong province, Xinhua reported a crisis was narrowly averted when a helicopter rescued 12 Chinese sailors whose ship had begun to sink as the result of Kalmaegi's strong winds.
Earlier, the typhoon passed just south of Hong Kong, packing wind gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour. The storm delayed at least 500 flights at Hong Kong's airport and forced the Hong Kong stock exchange to cancel morning trading. Trading later resumed when authorities downgraded the typhoon alert.
Kalmaegi swept through the Philippines on Sunday, causing landslides and flooding in some rural areas.
The storm is moving northwest and is expected to make landfall later Tuesday in Vietnam.
