Typhoon Kai-Tak causes havoc across S China

Thousands of passengers are stranded at airports and transport services suspended on Friday as Typhoon Kai-Tak battered southern regions of the country.

Kai-Tak, the 13th tropical storm of the year, whirled into the Huguang township, Mazhang district of Zhanjiang city in south China's Guangdong province at around 12:30 a.m., on Friday, bringing downpours and gales.

Off the eastern Zhanjiang coast, the violent weather triggered storms as high as four meters.

Trees and billboards could be seen scattered along the roads in the city, where most of the shops and restaurants remained closed.

In an airport in Beihai, a city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 16 flights linking Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Changsha were canceled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

According to sources from the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Qinzhou city, six people are still trapped after their ship was marooned in Qinzhou Port, on Thursday evening.

Helicopter, tugs and patrol boats have been dispatched to the scene to rescue the trapped people, said the city's government.

According to fishery departments of the coastal cities of Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang, as of 1 p.m., more than 10,000 fishing boats have been called back to harbors, and more than 40,000 fishermen and seafood farmers have gone ashore to avoid heavy rains, gales and waves.

Elsewhere, Kai-Tak also led to the delay and cancellation of 14 incoming flights and seven outgoing flights in Meilan International Airport, in Haikou, capital of the southern island province of Hainan.

Also in Hainan, where the heavy rains lashed, 23 flights had been canceled and 18 others delayed at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Sanya City at 10:30 a.m., leaving 3,000 passengers helpless.

According to the latest updates from China's Central Meteorological Observatory, Kai-Tak battered the coastal region of Huguang Township, in Zhanjiang City of the southern province of Guangdong. The typhoon reached a maximum wind speed of 38 meters per second, bringing downpours.

The storm is moving at a speed of 25-30 km per hour. It is expected to arrive at the Beibu Gulf ripping through the Leizhou Peninsula in the afternoon.

In addition to airports, railways were affected. A total of 16 high-speed trains linking Sanya and Haikou were suspended.

In Haikou, there were reportedly few pedestrians spotted in the city, where slow-moving cars were seen clogging the rain-hit roads.

Officials supervising flood control and drought relief efforts said relief materials and rescue personnel were fully prepared to mitigate the impact of Kai-Tak.