Nine people were killed and one left missing in the eastern
province of Zhejiang
after this year's fifteenth typhoon hit yesterday, local government
sources said on Monday.
Named Khanun, the Thai word for jackfruit, the typhoon forced
the provincial government to call 37,625 ships back to harbor.
Total economic losses have been estimated at 6.89 billion yuan
(US$849 million), according to officials from the provincial flood
control and drought relief headquarters.
As of 6:00 AM today, Khanun battered four cities, 29 counties
and 357 towns in the province, affecting 5.11 million people.
Strong winds and rainstorms destroyed 7,468 houses and damaged
water facilities and cropland, said the headquarters.
Meteorologists described it as the strongest typhoon to hit
China this year, bringing force 12 gales over eight hours, and the
province reported rainfall of over 400 mm at three observation
stations.
The provincial government has already evacuated more than one
million people and there have been blackouts in some parts.
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The provincial observatory forecast that the center of the typhoon,
which has been moving northwestward at 25 km per hour, was expected
to bore into neighboring Jiangsu
Province early today.
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The municipality of Shanghai has also evacuated 100,000 people and
its observatory upgraded its typhoon emergency warning from yellow
to red.
From 6 to 8 PM yesterday, 116 flights were suspended in
Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports, and today all its middle
schools, primary schools and kindergartens were closed for the
first time as strong torrential rains were expected.
As for Anhui,
another neighboring province, downpours were expected in some
parts, and flood and landslide warnings issued for mountainous and
river areas. Rainfall was forecast to continue till Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2005)
