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Taiwan, China Brace for Typhoon

Posted on: Monday, 28 July 2008, 06:00 CDT

Taiwanese authorities Monday canceled flights and train and ferry services as Typhoon Fung-wong picked up momentum toward the island.

Sandbag barriers had been put up while fishing boats were ordered to port, the Taipei Times reported.

In mainland China, massive evacuation was underway in southeast Fujian province.

Starting from (Sunday night), Taiwan will be enveloped in Fung-wong's wind and rain until the morning of the 29th, with an expected peak Monday, said the deputy director of the weather bureau.

Typhoon Fung-wong, Cantonese for Phoenix, was expected to make landfall in Hualien county in east Taiwan.

Storm forecasters also alerted people to threats of landslides and flash floods in mountainous areas and sudden rises in sea level in low-lying coastal areas, the report said.

As of Sunday night, Fung-wong, packing wind up to 86 miles per hour, was about 124 miles southeast of Hualien County traveling west-northwest at about 10.5 miles per hour.

In China, authorities said more than 274,000 people had been evacuated by Sunday in Fujian Province.

Xinhua reported nearly 52,500 fishing boats also had returned to ports. Fung-wong is the eighth tropical storm of this year.

The storm was expected to land in Fujian Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Source: United Press International

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