One million evacuated as Typhoon Morakot hits east China

At least one person has been killed and three others injured as Typhoon Morakot slammed into southeast China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces yesterday, one day after it pounded Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the worst flooding on the island in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.

The eighth Typhoon of this year made landfall in Xiapu county at about 4:20 pm, packing winds of close to 119 kilometers per hour and slicing its way north at a speed of 12 kph at its eye, the National Meteorological Center said, adding that Morokot is expected to weaken to a tropical storm.

Four adults and a 4-year-old boy were buried in debris as five houses collapsed in Wenzhou city in Zhejiang Province after 8 am yesterday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The child died during the afternoon after emergency treatment failed, the city’s flood-control headquarters said.

Some 1 million people were evacuated in coastal areas of eastern provinces by early Sunday – more than 490,000 people in Zhejiang and 480,000 others in neighboring Fujian.

In Zhejiang, approximately 35,440 ships have been called back to port, the provincial flood-control headquarters said Sunday morning, while authorities in Fujian urged 48,000 boats to return to harbor.

Flood-control and drought-relief headquarters in the province had raised the emergency alert from Level-II to Level-I with Wenzhou likely to become the worst-hit area.

As of 8 am yesterday, as many as 220,000 residents in Wenzhou were relocated to safety, 8,997 boats had returned to port and 331 houses had collapsed, incurring direct economic losses of 229 million yuan. Wenzhou City airport had canceled 39 domestic flights.

Chen Lianjin, a 20-year-old resident of Pingyang, Wenzhou, said the deepest water level was up to three meters in some low-lying areas, and his family has had to live on pickles after runing out of vegetables.

“It has rained continuously and heavily since Thursday, and wind strength has reached Level 14 at most,” an official at the Wenzhou Meteorological Bureau told the Global Times.

Water flows yesterday past a damaged bridge previously linking Pingtung and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The government mobilized troops to rescue tens of thousands of residents trapped in the island’s worst flooding in 50 years, officials said, as Typhoon Morakot pounded Taiwan over the weekend with powerful winds and rain. Photo: AFP

Officials in some Zhejiang villages were riding bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to households stranded amid deep water, Xinhua reported.

Chinese airlines have canceled flights to Fujian and Jiangsu. Fujian government stated on its website that 128 flights have been canceled and a dozen highways have been closed due to safety concerns.

Torrential rainfall also swept through Rongtuo, Xiapu, Fuding and Fu’an in Ningde City, state media reported.

In Ningde, 23 roads have partially collapsed, while the water level of the city’s reservoirs has reached alert level, and water was discharged as a precaution.

“The danger increases shortly after the typhoon’s landfall. Some dilapidated houses have collapsed in some mountainous areas, and crops have been drowned,” said Zhou Qiuqi, director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Ningde City.

“The sea route from Xiamen to Jinmen has been totally suspended with no time set for its reopening,” an official surnamed Chen at the Dongdu ferry station of Xiamen told the Global Times.

Fujian Province registered its highest precipitation of 800 mm in Taishun County, while the Cangnan Flood Control Office said Morakot has caused power cuts in 11 areas including Lingyan and Shiping.

A cargo ship, Daqing 254, was also stranded amid strong winds, and rescuers were trying to safeguard its eight sailors, after it was reported adrift at 2:30 am Sunday.

China Central Television reported that Fujian will be under Morakot’s onslaught for the next 20 hours. Other areas in East China, such as Jiangsu and Shanghai, are all on high alert. In Shanghai, the World Expo venues still under construction have been reinforced.

Marokot slammed into Taiwan with torrential rains yesterday, causing the worst flooding on the island in 50 years.

Taiwan’s Disaster Relief Center said a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday, and two men drowned in Pingtung and Tainan, respectively. It said that 31 people were missing and feared dead.

Television footage showed a six-story hotel in Taipung, south Taiwan, collapse into floodwater. People inside the hotel were evacuated beforehand, reports said.