Typhoon Sarika causes losses, lands again in S. China

Typhoon Sarika has weakened and made landfall a second time in south China on Wednesday afternoon after it brought gales and downpours to Hainan Province.

Sarika has weakened to become a severe tropical storm. It made landfall a second time in Dongxing City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday, with maximum winds of 90 km per hour at its eye.

Flights and high-speed trains have returned to normal in Hainan. Flights at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, capital of Hainan, began normal departures and landing on Tuesday evening.

The eastern section of the island's loop high-speed rail line resumed operation on Wednesday afternoon. Security checks on the western section are under way.

Ferry service across the Qiongzhou Strait between Hainan and Guangdong Province resumed on Wednesday afternoon.

Sarika, the 21st typhoon of the year, made landfall in the east of Hainan on Tuesday morning, packing winds of up to 162 km per hour. Half a million people were evacuated in Hainan.

The typhoon caused agricultural losses on the island. In Qionghai City, 62 villages were flooded and direct losses in its agricultural and fishery sectors reached 570 million yuan (85 million U.S. dollars).

The storm also damaged 15,000 hectares of cropland in Changjiang Li Autonomous County. Endi