Talim lands twice, heads for Vietnam

Storm severs transportation services, topples trees and leaves ship stranded

Residents in Shenzhen woke up Tuesday morning to gauge the damage after a long night of whipping winds and periods of intense rainfall caused by Talim, a typhoon that downed lychee and jackfruit trees and cut off transportation between cities across many of South China's provinces.

Talim, the fourth typhoon this year, made a second landfall in the coastal area of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region early Tuesday after first striking Guangdong province on Monday night.

According to the National Meteorological Center, Talim is moving westward to Fangchenggang, a city in Guangxi, with a wind speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

The center said the storm is expected to further weaken as it moves northwesterly into northern Vietnam later on Tuesday.

In Beihai city, where Talim made its second landfall, railway services are gradually resuming.

"As of Tuesday afternoon, the station is still being affected by Typhoon Talim, but the wind strength is decreasing. Step by step, we are bringing back train services from Beihai to Hepu, Qinzhou, Nanning and other directions," said Ji Huan, a train dispatcher at Beihai Railway Station.

After Talim passed, a large number of oysters, mussels and clams appeared on Yuhaiwan beach in Shenzhen, attracting many residents who went to collect them. However, local authorities have recommended they not to do so.

"I went clamming in Yuhaiwan this morning but was told I better not, because although the storm is moving away, there is still a possibility of huge waves and heavy rains," Li Hongjun, a 42-year-old taxi driver, told China Daily.

In Sanya, Hainan province, crew members of an Indonesian ship named MV Montok were rescued by local customs after the ship lost its power when Talim moved into the waters near the city.

"We opened the emergency rescue channel. Time is tight and the task is heavy, but life and safety come first," said Li Lin, deputy director of the second section of supervision of Sanya Customs. Li said that the MV Montok was towed to a maintenance factory, and all its 18 Indonesian crew members were transferred to the shore for shelter.

Cui Gang, a public relations director of the Guangdong Fire and Rescue Corps, said his team had dispatched 440 firefighters to Zhanjiang, Maoming and other areas before the arrival of Talim.

"From 8 am Monday to 8 am Tuesday, we received 43 incident calls related to the typhoon and have evacuated and rescued 21 stranded individuals. We will continue to cooperate with the local authorities in road clearance, drainage and other operations," Cui said.