Typhoon adds to problems in flood-hit China

No casualties have been reported so far from Chanthu, which was

upgraded from a tropical storm on Wednesday.

Authorities urged residents in Guangdong province to stay indoors as winds reached up to 70mph.

The storm came as China grapples with severe flooding that has left more than 701 people dead and 347 missing so far this year, according to the flood prevention agency. The death toll is the highest since 1998, when more than 4,000 people died. Damages are in the tens of billions of pounds.

In Guangdong, floods have killed more than a dozen people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands, the state-run news agency has said. Landslides triggered by heavy rains crushed homes and floods have wiped out crops across the province since June.

Chanthu reached Leizhou city in Guangdong early yesterday and was rumbling north along the coast.