Shipping and rail services across the Qiongzhou Strait between
south China's Hainan Province and mainland have been
suspended as strong tropical storm Lekima is heading toward the
island.
The Hainan maritime bureau ordered a suspension of all
navigation across the strait at 6?PM Monday due to the
upcoming Lekima, said an official with the passenger transportation
at the port of Haikou, capital of Hainan.
Train services between Sanya, a southern coastal city of Hainan
and Xuwen, Zhanjiang and Guangzhou in the mainland were also
suspended, according to railway authorities.
The center of Lekima was spotted in central South China Sea,
about 390 km southeast of Sanya at 8?PM Monday, packing winds
of up to 108 km per hour and moving west-northwestward at a speed
of 10 to 15 km per hour.
Lekima, named after a type of fruit in Vietnam, will continue to
gain strength and is expected to make landfall in the southeastern
coast of the island Tuesday night or Wednesday morning or pass by
its offshore areas, according to the Hainan Provincial
Meteorological Observatory.
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2007)