People brave strong winds and rain on a street as a typhoon hit Haikou in south China's Hainan province, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. The powerful typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday after skirting Hong Kong and bringing death and widespread flooding to the Philippines earlier this week (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
People brave strong winds and rain on a street as a typhoon hit Haikou in south China's Hainan province, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. The powerful typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday after skirting Hong Kong and bringing death and widespread flooding to the Philippines earlier this week (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
A man walks at a pier against a backdrop of Hong Kong's Victoria Habour Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. Residents of Hong Kong hunkered down Thursday as they rode out a powerful typhoon that brought death and destruction when it tore through the Philippines earlier this week. Hong Kong's stock market suspended trading and shops and businesses shuttered as Typhoon Nesat made its way across the South China Sea from the Philippines, where the storm killed 35 people and that left another 45 missing. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
A barge, right, is seen run aground with its moorings slipped off by Typhoon Nesat in Hong Kong Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. Residents of Hong Kong hunkered down as they rode out a powerful typhoon that brought death and destruction when it tore through the Philippines earlier this week. Hong Kong's stock market suspended trading and shops and businesses shuttered as Typhoon Nesat made its way across the South China Sea from the Philippines, where the storm killed 35 people and that left another 45 missing. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
A man braves strong winds and rain on a street as typhoon Nesat hits Haikou in south China's Hainan province, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. The powerful typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday after skirting Hong Kong and bringing death and widespread flooding to the Philippines earlier this week. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
Motorcyclists hold on to a tree in strong winds as typhoon Nesat hits Haikou in south China's Hainan province, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. The powerful typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday after skirting Hong Kong and bringing death and widespread flooding to the Philippines earlier this week (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
HONG KONG (AP) ? A powerful typhoon that forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes on an island in southern China appeared to have caused little damage Friday and was sweeping away from the country toward Vietnam.
Typhoon Nesat was expected to make landfall in Vietnam late Friday or early Saturday, after flooding streets on China's Hainan island on Thursday. Hainan authorities had plenty of time to prepare for the storm as it churned across the South China Sea from the Philippines, where it killed at least 43 people and left 30 missing earlier in the week.
Authorities evacuated 300,000 people, canceled flights, closed schools, suspended ferry services and recalled fishing boats as the storm approached, and the preparations appeared to have paid off with little damage reported on the island.
That was also the case in Hong Kong, which wasn't directly hit by the storm but saw wild weather Thursday as the system passed offshore.
In the Philippines, more than 160,000 people were still in evacuation centers Friday, three days after Nesat tore a path across the country's main island and triggered some of the worst flooding in the capital in decades.
Even as the weather improved with some sunshine, more misery hit residents of Bulacan province just north of Manila when three dams released excess water, flooding farmland and sending residents in towns downstream wading through neck-deep waters.
Bulacan Gov. Willy Alvarado said he called dam administrators to temporarily stop the release of water, which he said unleashed flooding on "unprecedented" levels.
Army and police rescuers distributed food and other relief goods to those stranded on rooftops in Calumpit and Hagonoy townships in Bulacan.
Preparations were also under way as a new typhoon headed toward the northern Philippines. It was expected to hit over the weekend.
Overall, damage from Typhoon Nesat was estimated at $91 million in the Philippines. No estimates have been given yet for damage to Hainan.
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Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
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