Typhoon Aere lashed Fuqing in east China's coastal Fujian Province yesterday afternoon.

The typhoon, packing strong force 12 winds and heavy rains, uprooted trees and comes just two weeks after Typhoon Rananim wreaked havoc in the same coastal area, killing over 160 and causing billions of yuan worth of damage.

Early reports say one person has died and four are missing following three shipping accidents caused by high seas. Two people are reported as injured.

There were no reports of further casualties. Some 220,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas in Fujian.

Aere continues to move southwestwards and is predicted to sweep through southern and central parts of Fujian and head towards Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces, according to Fujian Meteorology Observatory.

Inland Longyan and Sanming cities are expected to embrace strong winds of force 7 to 8.

Putian City in Fujian Province issued a red weather-warning signal yesterday morning, making full preparations to fight the attack.

Color-coded weather warnings labeled blue, yellow, orange and red in ascending order matching national standards of severity of the 11 extreme weather conditions and red is the most serious one.

Ships between the coastal city of Xiamen, and Jinmen, an island near Taiwan Province, were cancelled from yesterday and will resume normal operation on Friday.

The freeway between Fuzhou and Xiamen was closed to traffic except buses traveling on local short-distance routes.

Public transportation was operating normally in Fuzhou, said Fuzhou Bus Company officials.

Fujian education authority yesterday requested all the schools to stop all student activities, including summer camps and field work.

Colleges have been asked to postpone their enrollment dates.

Fuzhou Changle International Airport delayed 16 flights and cancelled seven due to the bad weather.

Experts with the Central Meteorological Observatory said Aere was expected to be the second most powerful typhoon to ravage eastern and southern China this year -- and just two weeks after typhoon Rananim killed 164 people in East China's Zhejiang Province and caused 18.128 billion yuan (US$2.18 billion) in damage.

Fearing a repeat of the disaster, the Zhejiang government evacuated 249,000 people after it was predicted as landfall site of Typhoon Aere.

Aere's wrath is likely to be felt across a large area with torrential rains expected in south China's Guangdong Province in the coming two days.

Taiwan is expected to receive a protracted battering and residents have been warned of catastrophic rainfall and dangerous road conditions, the Taipei Times reported.

Schools, offices, and financial districts remained closed yesterday in Taipei and counties in northern, central and northeastern parts of the island.

Bad weather is forecast to continue today and further warnings have been given to people in mountainous and low-lying areas on guard against possible landslides.

(China Daily August 26, 2004)