The death toll from
Typhoon Imbudo, which swept across South China's Guangdong Province
late this week, rose to eight on Friday as local governments
assessed the cost of the damage.
More than 24 others were
injured and three fishermen were still missing on Friday, according
to the Guangdong Provincial Anti-Flooding Headquarters.
Three people, including
a child, were killed in Maoming when their houses collapsed in the
storm accompanying Imbudo on Friday.
One person was also
killed in Zhongshan in the western Pearl River Delta that borders
the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
The day before, Imbudo
killed four people in the cities of Luoding and
Lianjiang.
The typhoon has wreaked
1 billion yuan (US$120 million) in damage.
Imbudo, the seventh
typhoon or tropical storm this year, has affected at least 3.5
million people in western coastal areas of Guangdong
Province.
Zhanjiang, Yangjiang,
Maoming and Enping were hardest hit by the tropical
storm.
In Maoming, where three
of the storm deaths were reported, 630,000 residents in 111 towns
were affected. The typhoon has left Maoming with a bill of more
than 300 million yuan (US$36 million).
In Yangjiang, the
economic damage exceeds 580 million yuan (US$70
million).
And in Zhanjiang,
electricity and water supplies were suspended in many counties and
towns after power poles and pumping stations were
destroyed.
Guangzhou, Shenzhen and
Zhuhai have also been struck by Imbudo in the past two
days.
Imbudo moved into the Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday morning but many cities in
Guangdong were still experiencing heavy rain.
(China Daily July 26,
2003)