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Rammasun hits China

July 19, 2014

Typhoon Rammasun has hit southern China with torrential rain and wind causing several deaths. The storm hit the area after claiming scores of lives in the Philippines.

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Image: Reuters

The strongest storm to hit southern China in more than 40 years has killed at least 15 people, the Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

Rammasun first made landfall Friday hitting Hainan island off China's southern coast with winds exceeding 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour, Xinhua reported.

The storm then moved on to Guangxi region. Rammasun, which means "Thunder God" in Thai, had earlier ripped through the Philippines, killing at least 77 people.

Over 100,000 homes were also destroyed as the devastation from Typhoon Haiyan, which struck in November and claimed over 7,000 lives, is still evident in the country.

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) had issued its highest "red alert" for the typhoon, the first such declaration this year. Authorities have also suspended hundreds of buses, trains and flights across the region.

Rammasun is expected to bring heavy rain throughout the weekend before moving southwest. Heavy rain is also expected over part of northern Vietnam.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, when they pick up strength from the warm waters.

hc/mz (AFP, Reuters, AP)