Two people were killed and two others are missing in east
China's Zhejiang
Province after typhoon Matsa hit early on Saturday morning, the
local government confirmed on Sunday.
By 3:00 PM Saturday, the ninth typhoon this year had affected a
total of 8.4 million people, toppled 13,108 houses and caused 6.5
billion yuan (US$800 million) in direct economic losses in
Zhejiang, the provincial flood control headquarters told Xinhua on
Sunday afternoon.
It said the typhoon also destroyed 205,000 hectares of cropland
and was?estimated to slash grain output by 241,000 tons at
least.
Typhoon Matsa, named after a fish found in Laos, shut down
nearly 63,500 businesses, damaged roads and destroyed power
transmission and communications facilities when it battered the
eastern province on Saturday.
The typhoon destroyed 21 reservoirs, 221 kilometers of
embankment and damaged a large number of other water resource
facilities.
Most parts of the province reported heavy rains from
Thursday.
By Sunday morning, about 67 percent of the province had received
more than 50 millimeters of rainfall. In Yongjia and Yueqing
counties in Wenzhou City, rain volume exceeded 600 millimeters.
Matsa first hit Ganjiang Town in Zhejiang Province at 3:40 AM
Saturday, and moved northwest toward six major cities, including
the provincial capital Hangzhou.
In Shanghai, which was about 300 kilometers north of the storm
center, four people were killed and two injured. Among them, two
died from electric shocks yesterday morning while using
water-soaked appliances.
The city's two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong, were closed, and
most international flights were cancelled until 4?AM
yesterday. The nearly 30-hour closure of the airports affected
1,000 flights.
The storm brought the heaviest rain in nine years.
The mass transit Line One metro suspended services for more
than?four hours yesterday morning as rainwater flooded the
system.
The neighboring provinces of Anhui
and Jiangsu
have beefed up reinforcements along local river dykes and recalled
fishing vessels.
In Anhui, Matsa killed one person and has affected the lives of
760,000 people, the provincial flood control authorities said on
Sunday.
The typhoon has brought moderate to heavy rain since it hit the
southern part of the province at about 10:00?PM Saturday.
Although Matsa typhoon had trailed off into a tropical storm
before entering Anhui, the civil affairs department said the
situation was severe enough to evacuate 8,600 people and damage
50,000 hectares of cropland, causing 373 million yuan (US$45
million) in direct economic losses.
The high winds and heavy rain also destroyed dykes in Chuzhou
City, officials said.
The latest meteorological report said Matsa is moving northwest
at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. High winds and heavy rains
will continue to batter Chuzhou, Bengbu and Suzhou cities and areas
north of Huaihe River.
Reports from Qingdao said the typhoon had already brought heavy
rains and strong winds to the coastal city in east China's Shandong
Province. Experts said that the bad weather is expected to
continue.
The city has closed its seaside resorts, stopped yachting
services and recalled 30,000 fishing vessels.
Further north, the capital city of Beijing has also forecast
heavy rain on Sunday night and Monday.
Weather forecasters say there will be storms in Beijing Monday
and Tuesday as the capital falls under the influence of the
typhoon.
The main thrust of the typhoon is expected to hit Beijing Monday
evening and bring storms, especially to the central, western and
southern parts of the city, where the rainfall will be over 100
mm.
The rains will be the strongest the capital has seen in recent
years in terms of range as well as strength, according to Guo Hu,
the director of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory.
Beijing's flood control authorities met on Sunday afternoon to
assign flood control work, while reservoirs, rivers and areas
around single-storied houses will be closely monitored.
Flights in and out of Beijing Capital Airport were canceled over
the weekend. Schedules resumed on Monday although flights to
Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai might still be delayed.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, CRI.com August 8,
2005)