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HONG KONG, China -- Even in a weakened state tropical storm Utor continued to wreak damage across southern China, killing three people, wiping out thousands of homes and causing destruction estimated at $2.5 billion.
The toll in the Philippines was still being counted and was still rising: 121 dead and 44 still missing, according to local civil defense as reported by The Associated Press.
At Hong Kong and other airports in the path of what was originally a typhoon-strength blast, thousands of stranded air passengers sorted out disrupted travel plans.
The state-run Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper reported on Saturday that the storm had affected more than five million people in Guangdong, where it hit on Friday.
As it moved onto Guangxi province on Saturday, authorities mobilized more than 10,000 soldiers and 100,000 civilians to strengthen dams and battle severe floods, China News Service reported.
The Hong Kong Observatory said Saturday afternoon that Utor was centered about 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Nanning, Guangxi's provincial capital, and was moving west at about 20 kph (15 mph).
One rural town near Guangxi's capital city of Nanning was submerged in record-high flood waters, cutting off electricity and all transportation, CNS reported.
Utor, which means "squall" in the language spoken on the Marshall Islands, hit hardest earlier in mountainous provinces of the northern Philippines. The storm also killed one Taiwanese man by sweeping him into the ocean when it churned past the island.
A fishing boat which went missing was said to have run aground off the northern Philippine island of Babuyan, but the seven sailors on board were alive, according to boat owner Chen Shun-liang, quoting unidentified shipping sources. Officials, however, said they could not confirm that.
In Hong Kong, Airport Authority spokeswoman Wong Sau-ying said 116 airplanes were canceled or delayed since midnight Friday and a maximum of 112 flights were grounded at the Chek Lap Kok airport at one point.
On Friday, 87 flights were canceled and 402 delayed as tropical storm Utor swept through the territory, causing flooding and paralyzing land and air transport for most of the day. As the typhoon moved further away, the Hong Kong Observatory lowered all typhoon signals Saturday morning.
Some passengers stranded inside the aircraft were sickened by the long delays since midnight Saturday, while other frustrated passengers quarreled with airlines' staff at the counters.
A government spokeswoman said 15 people have been taken to the hospital, with four still being treated. The three men and one woman, aged between 17 and 61, are in stable condition.
Reuters reported that the stormy weather has compounded the Cathay Pacific pilots' "work-to-rule" industrial action since Tuesday.
Pilots' dispute
The pilots' union aimed to disrupt flights without breaking regulations after talks with the airline management broke down over pay and working conditions late last week.
Cathay said 39 out of 128 flights were canceled Saturday, in addition to the 56 flights canceled on Friday due to the typhoon. A hundred flights were delayed for 15 minutes or more, partly because of the industrial action, it said.
One furious Cathay passenger from the Netherlands was taken away by police after he yelled at a ground crew member and swept everything off the counter desk, Reuters reported.
"Let them give us a reason and some information," the man shouted as he was filmed by local television stations. "Why is there no information at all?"
Reuters contributed to this report.
