Typhoon Conson weakens to tropical storm after landing in Hainan

Typhoon Conson weakened to a strong tropical storm as it passed over Hainan Island early this morning, and is forecast to make landfall in northern Vietnam today, China's National Meteorological Center said.

Heavy rain and winds will continue to batter Hainan and southern China provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan, the center said in a statement on its website, raising a yellow alert and advising people to stay indoors.

Conson, which left 38 people dead earlier this week as it battered the Philippines, reached land at Sanya on Hainan last night at 7:50 p.m. Beijing time, the center said. The city recalled all fishing boats to port and had relocated almost 40,000 people across the island by 4:30 p.m. yesterday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the Philippines, 47 people remain missing and about 8,900 people in evacuation centers after Conson hit the country’s most populous island of Luzon, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

Ten fishing vessels were overturned by Conson when it passed near the Xisha or Paracel Islands, Xinhua said.

Conson is a mountainous region in Vietnam, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists names assigned to cyclones in the Pacific. 
 
SOURCE: www.businessweek.com