BEIJING >> A typhoon struck China’s southernmost island of Hainan on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights as it headed northwest toward Vietnam.

About 90,000 people in southern China were evacuated from high-risk areas ahead of Typhoon Kalmaegi, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. But the typhoon’s course was giving only a glancing blow to southern China as the storm headed toward northern Vietnam, where it was expected to make landfall Tuesday night.

The storm was sending winds of 85 to 90 mph over southern mainland China, according to the country’s National Meteorological Center. Hainan’s international airport canceled 69 flights, Xinhua said.

Vietnam ordered residents in high-risk areas to evacuate and fishing boats to take shelter.

Typhoon Kalmaegi slammed into the northern Philippines on Monday, unleashing flooding and killing at least two people.