Typhoon Megi heads to China, 10 killed in Philippines

Super Typhoon Megi is heading towards China after killing at least 10 people and destroying rice crops in the Philippines on Monday.

The storm strengthened as it churned over the South China Sea on a path to Hong Kong, media reports said citing the U.S Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

The US Navy said the storm was about 350 kilometers northwest of Manila and 780 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong in the afternoon.

The winds rose to 185 kilometers an hour and the storm was moving west-northwest at 11 kilometers an hour, reports said.

Meanwhile, the US Hurricane Center has forecast winds to strengthen to 213 kilometers an hour as it crosses the South China Sea that would make it a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, capable of catastrophic damage.

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The US Navy tracking map shows Megi’s likelihood of hitting Hong Kong within three days.

China’s National Meteorological Center on Monday urged governments to make preparations for extreme weather and warned that Megi will severely affect China’s coast.

Warnings were given to the southern regions of Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian by the China’s State Disaster Relief Commission to prepare for relief operations, the official Xinhua agency reported.

The official Xinhua agency also reported that about 140,000 people had been evacuated from 15 cities on Hainan island after rains lashed the province on Friday.even as work began to shore up reservoirs in the island.

After destroying huge tracts of rice and killing almost a dozen people in the Philippines, Super Typhoon Megi is heading towards China, where officials have warned the storm may be the worst to strike this year.

On Monday, China's National Meteorological Centre urged local governments to make full preparations for extreme weather.

Some 140,000 people have been evacuated from 15 cities on Hainan island since heavy rains reached the province on Friday, Xinhua reported.

In the Philippines, Megi struck northeastern Luzon, the country's most populous island on Monday leaving at least 10 people dead including three fishermen off the coast of Isabela province, Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos told journalists on Tuesday.

Three members of a family were also killed by a falling tree in the Pangasinan province.

Around 7,000 people were evacuated by sending lorries and other vehicles following the Philippines government's timely preparations for the storm, thus minimizing the death toll.

The storm destroyed five houses and damaged 30 others as it disrupted power supply in 210 towns and cities, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Mobile phones were damaged and roads were blocked due to landslides.

A state of calamity has been declared in some of the affected areas.

The US military offered seven helicopters to deliver relief material and rescue marooned residents.