Typhoon Hagupit forced the closure of schools in at least two south China cities, halted flights and left many urban streets deserted after making landfall in Guangdong Province early on Wednesday.

Six people were confirmed dead in the storm, according to the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, which estimated that direct economic losses in the coastal province approached 6 billion yuan (about US$770 million) so far.

The 14th strong typhoon of the year landed in Dianbai County in the city of Maoming at 6:45 AM with winds of more than 200 km per hour in its eye, the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Bureau said.

Strong gales uprooted many trees and billboards in Maoming when the storm landed. City authorities said one fishing boat sank off Dianbai County, but no casualties were reported.

As the worst typhoon to hit Guangdong in more than a decade, Hagupit forced the closure of all schools and kindergartens in the coastal city of Zhanjiang, where gales and rain left most streets deserted even in the morning rush hour.

"Hagupit has brought strong gales to all the nine counties and districts in Zhanjiang," said Peng Wenzhen, deputy chief of the city's water resources bureau.

The high wind destroyed a gas station along the Zhanjiang section of State Highway No. 325 and a factory under construction. The local government said no casualties were reported in either accident.

But fallen trees disrupted traffic on the state highway on Wednesday morning and farmers had huge losses as the gales destroyed their banana trees on either side of the highway.

Meanwhile, heavy rain since Tuesday night caused problems for five of the city's 800 reservoirs, bringing them on the verge of overflowing. "We have sluiced water from the five reservoirs and are watching closely as the rainstorm persists," said Peng.

Hagupit has triggered a once-in-a-century storm tide -- a high flood period in which water levels can rise to more than 5 meters above the normal tide -- in several coastal cities including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen and Yangjiang.

"I have been working at the Jiuzhou port for more than 20 years and seen no less than 10 typhoons, but this is the first time that the sea water flooded into the hall of the Customs," said a policeman surnamed Chen in Zhuhai.

The balusters along the coastal road were damaged by sea waves, and the depth of sea water at the parking lot reached one meter, with several cars half-submerged.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2008)