Typhoon Son-Tinh disrupts flights in S. China

Typhoon Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm this year, has disrupted 122 flights and brought downpours to south China's island province of Hainan.

Eighty-eight inbound and outbound flights were canceled and 34 others delayed, affecting 4,558 passengers, said an source with the Phoenix International Airport of Sanya, a city in southern Hainan.

Nearly 2,000 passengers were arranged to stay in local hotels, said the source. And airport staff were sending some of the stranded passengers by bus to the airport of Haikou, the provincial capital in the north of the island, to take other flights.

Rainstorm and strong gales hit Sanya on Saturday. Local flood prevention authorities were on high alert.

Typhoon Son-Tinh was spotted in the sea waters 130 km southwest of Sanya at 5 p.m. Saturday, with maximum sustained winds of 144 km per hour, according to the National Meteorological Center. It was moving northwest at a speed of 15 km to 20 km per hour and still gained momentum.

At least 24 were killed and nine others missing after Son-Tinh slashed the Philippines on Wednesday as a tropical storm, the country's national disaster reduction authorities said Saturday.