More than 1,000 cars were Tuesday stranded in Haikou, capital of China's southernmost province of Hainan, as typhoon Nepartak showed no sign of abating.

They are waiting to head back to the mainland via ferries.

"The typhoon is sweeping northward at 10 kilometers per hour and we have seen nothing to suggest it will ease up," Li Yifei, a senior engineer with the Hainan Provincial Meteorological Bureau, said Tuesday.

"We think its influence in the city will hang around for some time."

An anonymous official at Haikou Harbor refuted earlier reports that ferry operations would return to normal this morning. She said no "clear-cut" order has been given for the resumption of services.

According to Li, the lives of almost all of the people in the city, as well as in the province's other cities of Sanya and Dongfang, have been disrupted by the typhoon as it dumps torrential rain and whips up devastatingly strong winds.

"Most people have had to stay at home as moving around is inconvenient and dangerous," said Li.

Nepartak reached the island province on Sunday night. Although typhoons are normal for the area this time of year, Nepartak has caused excessive damage.

(China Daily November 19, 2003)