As millions of people in south China still struggle with the
aftermath of typhoon Prapiroon, a new tropical storm is approaching
and expected to affect coastal areas in southeastern China.
Zhejiang Provincial Observatory Station
yesterday issued an emergency gale alert, saying that Bopha, one of
three tropical storms forming in the western Pacific, is gaining
strength.
Relevant departments in this region should pay close attention
to the future route of the storm, the station warned.
Bopha, the ninth tropical storm this year, is expected to make
landfall in northern Taiwan tonight or tomorrow morning as a
relatively weak category one typhoon, reports said.
Tropical storm Saomai was also moving towards Taiwan from the
southeast, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 119 kilometers
per hour and gusts up to 155 kilometers per hour, Taiwan's Central
Weather Bureau said yesterday on its website.
In the wake of Prapiroon, residents of typhoon-ravaged Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan in south China continued trying to
rebuild their homes as the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported
yesterday that the death toll from the storm has climbed to 80 with
nine still missing.
As the sixth typhoon of the year, Prapiroon, which means "God of
Rain" in Thai, has affected 10.3 million people, razed 29,000 rooms
and caused direct economic losses of 7.23 billion yuan (US$900
million), said the ministry.
Moreover, the ministry has dispatched a work panel to Panjin in
northeast China's Liaoning Province, where heavy rain has led to
severe flooding, according to a news release yesterday.
From July 29 to August 6, heavy flooding has affected 1.26
million people, forced the relocation of 115,000 and razed 110,000
rooms in eight cities, such as Shenyang, Dalian, Panjin and
Dandong, it added.
The ministry also allocated 1,500 tents to the disaster-hit
region. A total of 15 million yuan (US$1.9 million) of disaster
relief funds have also been arranged by local governments to
relocate and help the victims.
Medium to heavy torrential rains are forecast in southern Yunnan Province after Prapiroon has been
downgraded from tropical storm to low-pressure cell, the Central
Meteorological Office said yesterday.
Thunderstorms, hailstones and gales are forecast in a large area
ranging from northeast and north China to regions between the
Yangtze and Huaihe rivers over the next two days, the office
said.
(China Daily August 8, 2006)