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HONG KONG, May 17 : Hong Kong, Taiwan and provinces on China's southern coast were on alert today as Typhoon Chanchu churned northward after tearing across the Philippines killing 37 people.

The typhoon, with winds gusting up to 170 kmh (106 mph), was forecast to make landfall east of Hong Kong in Guangdong province later today. It is the strongest storm on record to enter the South China Sea in May.

The port city of Shantou could be hardest hit, the state-run China Daily cited a provincial weather official as saying, although it was possible the storm could veer eastward up the Taiwan Strait.

Rescue ships and helicopters were standing by, and all sea transport to the Chinese island province of Hainan has been halted, the report added.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a strong wind signal number three, which means that winds with mean speeds of 41-62 kmh (25.5-38.5 mph) were expected in the former British colony.

Taiwan's central weather bureau issued sea and land warnings.

In the Philippines, Chanchu affected about 53,300 people in wide areas of the Luzon and Visayas regions, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said in a report on Monday.

Damage to agriculture was estimated at 71.6 million pesos ($1.4 million) and to infrastructure at 27 million pesos.

Reuters