HONG KONG, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Three people were killed and two went missing after Typhoon Hagupit hit China's southern coastal province of Guangdong on Wednesday morning, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The wind speed of the typhoon, which is the 14th to hit the country this year, was estimated at 200 km/h (124 mph).
The agency said some 8,000 buildings had been destroyed and more than 180,000 hectares of crops had been affected, with around 39,000 hectares completely ruined.
The typhoon also forced 870 factories to suspend production and 34 highways to close. The total economic loss to the province is estimated at $800 million.
Chinese officials said early in September that the death toll from floods and storms in 2008 had totaled 436, with 113 people missing.
