China evacuates 417,000 people ahead of approaching typhoon

Beijing: Hundreds of thousands of people in southeast China were evacuated and fishing vessels called back to shore on Sunday because of an approaching typhoon, authorities said. [caption id=“attachment_1155749” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty[/caption]

Typhoon Fitow is expected to make landfall early Monday between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, according to the National Meteorological Center. Provincial authorities said that by noon Sunday more than 65,000 boats had returned to port or moved to safer areas. Zhejiang’s provincial government said 289,000 people had been evacuated from fishing boats and coastal areas. Fujian’s government said 128,000 boat workers and dwellers had been evacuated, including 7,000 elderly people and children who were on fishing rafts. The typhoon will bring heavy or torrential rain to five provinces, Shanghai and Taiwan over the next three days, the meteorological center said. Some coastal areas may see rainfall of 250 millimeters (9.84 inches), it said. AP