Traffic services resume as weakening Higos leaves Hainan_English

Cars queue up to cross the Qiongzhou Strait by ferry at Xiuying Port of Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 4, 2008. The shipping service across the Qiongzhou Strait was suspended early due to the influence of tropical storm Higos. The shipping has been resumed since Saturday afternnon and over 3000 cars overstayed started to leave Hainan Island. (Xinhua/Peng Tong)
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HAIKOU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Highway, rail and flight services have totally resumed in Hainan on Sunday as tropical storm Higos gradually weakened and left this southernmost island province of China, local authorities said.

Higos, the 17 tropical storm of the year, downgraded to a low pressure storm, left Hainan at 11 a.m. Navigation has resumed across the Qiongzhou Strait which separates Hainan from the Chinese mainland.

Passengers and tourists stranded on the island by the storm were leaving the region for home.

The storm caused an economic loss of 44 million yuan (6.5 million U.S. dollars), but it reduced the risk of drought as the storm increased 305 million cubic meters of water in reservoirs and the rainfall in most counties exceeded 100 mm, said Lin Mingzhong, Hainan Provincial Office for Flood, Wind and Drought Control deputy director.

Higos crossed the Qiongzhou Strait to land in Wuchuan of southern Guangdong Province at about 5 p.m. on Saturday, bringing heavy rains and strong wind of up to 15 meters per second in coastal areas of the province, according to the Guangdong Provincial Office for Flood, Wind and Drought Control.

It would continue to weaken as it was moving northeast at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour, said Lu Shan, Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Station chief forecaster.

Higos was formed on Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean, coming on the heels of tropical storms Jangmi and Hagupit, which had killed about 20 people in China.

Tropical storm Higos lands in S China

HAIKOU, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Higos, the 17th tropical storm of the year, landed in China's southernmost Hainan Province Friday evening, local observatory said.

Higos landed at 10:15 p.m. in Longlou Town, Wenchang City, 19.6 degrees north latitude and 111.0 degrees east longitude. The wind speed at the eye of the storm was 18 meters per second, according to the Hainan Provincial Meteorological Observatory.

Ferry service suspends as Higos moves inland in south China

HAIKOU, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ferry service on Qiongzhou Strait in south China was suspended as of 5 p.m. on Friday as Higos, the 17th tropical storm of the year, neared landfall.

Authorities in two airports in Hainan Province, Meilan International Airport in Haikou, the provincial capital, and Fenghuang (Phoenix) International Airport in Sanya, a seaside resort on the southern tip of the island, however, said arrivals and departures at their respective airports were not affected for the time being.

China issues orange alert for tropical storm Higos

BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- China issued an orange alert on Friday for tropical storm Higos that was expected to bring gales and heavy rain to southern coastal areas from Friday to Saturday.

Higos, the 17th tropical storm of the year, will land on the eastern coastal area of the southern island province of Hainan between Friday evening and early Saturday morning, or shave the area and approach western Guangdong Province, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast.