Three people are confirmed dead, five are missing and tens of thousands have been evacuated as Typhoon Utor batters south China.
More than one million people in Guangdong province have been affected by heavy rain and floods, Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial flood control headquarters as saying on Thursday.
Some 161,500 people had to be relocated and nearly 1500 homes were destroyed, as several villages in the Zhanjiang and Wuchuan municipalities were flooded when embankments along the swollen Quehua River burst Wednesday.
The storm, which earlier left at least eight dead and a trail of damage in the Philippines, made landfall near Yangjiang in western Guangdong Wednesday afternoon with winds of over 150km/h, local weather authorities said.
It moved into the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Wednesday night and was expected to remain there for four days.
Tens of thousands were displaced and whole towns badly damaged when Utor raked across the north of the main Philippine island of Luzon on Monday, but the death toll was lower than in past typhoons, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Packing winds of up to 150km/h at its centre, the typhoon also brushed past Hong Kong, where it forced the closure of financial markets, schools and businesses and disrupted hundreds of flights.
It also caused a 190-metre-long cargo ship to sink off Hong Kong Wednesday but all 21 crew were rescued.
