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Typhoon kills 115 in China

Florida warns 2 million to flee hurricane

REUTERS, AP, Beijing/ Tampa
One of the worst typhoons to hit China in several years killed 115 people and injured more than 1,800 when it battered southeastern Zhejiang province with torrential rain and galeforce winds, officials said yesterday.
Typhoon Rananim hit the coast late on Thursday, leaving 16 people missing, causing widespread damage in the rice-growing province and knocking down more than 40,000 buildings, said an official of the provincial meteorological bureau.
"As of 5:00 p.m., the typhoon had killed 115 people in Zhejiang and 16 are missing," said an official with the Zhejiang civil affairs office.
As many as 1,800 people had been
injured, including 185 who were seriously hurt, officials said. More than 8.6 million people had been affected by the storm, officials said.
The death toll was likely to rise as the typhoon swept inland into eastern Jiangxi province, officials said.
Most injuries were caused by collapsing homes, they said.
Officials had evacuated more than 460,000 people from coastal areas of Zhejiang province to escape the storm.
"This is the strongest typhoon since 1997," said an official of the provincial civil affairs bureau.
"Lots of trees and electricity pylons were toppled."
AP adds: With a "scary, scary" Hurricane Charley zeroing in on
Florida's west coast yesterday, officials urged almost 2 million people to evacuate and avoid the path of a storm that could submerge parts of this city's downtown and neighboring areas.
As it approached the coast at midmorning, Charley had winds of 110 mph, and it was expected to strenghten. Officials worried that a massive storm surge could devastate the heavily populated Gulf Coast region, with waterfront condominium towers and vulnerable mobile homes in danger.
In the morning's earliest hours, the storm roared across Cuba, battering Havana with high winds and heavy rain. There were no immedi
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ate reports of casualties or major damage.
Charley's center was 75 miles west of Key West at 9 a.m. and was expected to hit the Tampa Bay area later in the day, dumping heavy rain and possibly spawning sporadic tornadoes.
In northwest Tampa, an evacuation shelter at Sickles High School was full to its 500 capacity by 8 a.m. Windows had been reinforced with screens and tarps to prepare for the storm.
"I'm scared that we're going to go home and nothing is going to be there," 20-year-old Amanda Kellogg said as she played blackjack with four friends, their suitcases, bedding and other possessions piled beside them.
About 6.5 million of Florida's 17 million residents were in Charley's projected path, according to the Census Bureau.
At dawn Friday in Key West, fisherman Manuel Garcia was trying to secure his boss's fishing boat, the Cowboy III, in the Stock Island marina, where heavy surf was pushing the vessel against a cement barrier.
"If the water comes up, I can do nothing," he said, smoking a thick cigar.
The storm surge in the Tampa area could reach up to 16 feet if Charley hits at 120 mph, making it a major hurricane at Category 3 strength, state meteorologist Ben Nelson said.
"It does have the potential of devastating impact This is a scary, scary thing," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has declared an emergency.
On Thursday, Tropical Storm Bonnie came ashore in the Florida Panhandle and moved north. Three people, including a child, were killed and 25 injured Friday when a tornado spun out of its remnants and hit a North Carolina trailer park.
Ahead of Charley on Friday morning, the weather at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport was calm, said Jeff Clauss, an airport spokesman.
About 1.9 million people from the Florida Keys north through the west coast have been advised to evacuate, although only 1.1 million to 1.5 million were expected to do so before the storm hits, said Kristy Campbell, spokeswoman at the state emergency management center.
"In many areas, people are still leaving," Campbell said Friday.
Charley made landfall on Cuba's main island shortly after midnight near the southern town of Batabano, then passed just west of downtown Havana, population 2.2 million, about two hours later.
Authorities reported relatively minor damage, including ripped roofs, broken windows and downed trees, though gusts in some areas reached up to 125 mph.
It continued moving north-northwest near 18 mph. Hurricane force winds extended outward 30 miles from the eye; tropical storm force winds went out 125 miles.
All the west coast of Florida's peninsula was under a hurricane warning, as was the lower Florida Keys. Tropical storm watches and warnings extended from the middle Keys to Cape Fear, N.C.
Most of the evacuations were in the counties of Hillsborough, which contains Tampa, and Pinellas, a peninsula that contains St. Petersburg. All residents of MacDill Air Force Base, on another peninsula in Tampa Bay, were ordered out with only essential personnel remaining. MacDill is home to US Central Command, the nerve center of the war in Iraq.