Death toll in central China's Hunan has climbed to seven with five missing after Typhoon Sepat swept through the province, sources with the local flood control headquarters said Friday.
Sepat, the ninth typhoon this year, unleashed unprecedented amount of precipitation in the province, about 2.5 times of rainfalls brought by Typhoon Bilis last year, a spokesman with the headquarters aid, quoting latest statistics from provincial hydrological bureau.
Average precipitation in the province was recorded at 119 millimeters since last Sunday, with maximum precipitation reaching 863.6 millimeters in Yongxing County in the province's southwest, he said.
The typhoon has affected more than five million people in 38 counties and caused 1,578 companies and enterprises to suspend businesses.
Before Sepat landed, local authorities had relocated about 420,000 people, but the fierce typhoon still forced another 280,000 people to be displaced when it wiped through the province.
Currently, more than 1.8 million people in the province are fighting against the floods caused by the typhoon.
Sepat landed in east China's Fujian Province last Sunday, leaving a trail of chaos as it stormed through the neighboring Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan provinces.
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Wednesday that Sepat had left 39 people dead and nine others missing, but the casualties will continue to climb as local flood relief headquarters started to count the losses.
Eastern and southern China are regularly affected by tropical storms and typhoons in summer. Typhoons Bilis and Saomai claimed more than 1,000 lives in China last year.
Latest meteorological forecast say more rainstorms are likely to hit cities in Friday night to Saturday night, bringing strong winds or hails to most parts of the agricultural base.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2007)
