Authorities evacuated thousands of people, closed schools and canceled flights Friday as a severe tropical storm dumped heavy rain on parts of China's Hainan island and headed for the country's southern coast.
Photos posted by a Chinese news outlet showed toppled trees and a strewn corrugated metal fence at a construction site in the city of Sanya, a popular beach resort on Hainan. All schools, construction sites and tourist attractions in Sanya were closed and flights were suspended at the city's airport, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
