Typhoon Kaemi has so far claimed nine lives and left 21 others missing since it lashed the Chinese mainland on Tuesday afternoon, local authorities said.

Kaemi hit southeast China's Jiangxi Province at 10 AM Wednesday. It has bombarded central and southern parts of the province with rainstorms since Tuesday afternoon and triggered floods and landslides, killing seven people and leaving another 18 missing.

Earlier reports said 19 people were missing, but one of them was rescued, according to local authorities.

Rescuers have evacuated 10,845 people in the worst hit areas, where maximum rainfall in just six hours exceeded 280 millimeters.

At least 329,000 people in Jiangxi have been affected by rainstorm and ensuing disasters. 9,210 houses have been toppled and 6,400 hectares of farmland destroyed, resulting in a direct economic loss of an estimated 150 million yuan (US$18.75 million).

According to the provincial meteorological observatory, rainstorms will continue to plague the province on Thursday. Local governments have been warned to be on high alert.

South China's Guangdong Province also reported two deaths, according to the office of the National Natural Disaster Reduction Committee, while local authorities are still counting the missing and number of people affected.

Meanwhile in Hunan Province, floods and landslides on Wednesday left seven people missing. By press time, however, four of them had been found.


(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2006)