Landslides triggered by typhoon kill nine
(Xinhua/AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-02 15:43

Chinese authorities moved nearly 500,000 people to safety in Fujian and another 291,000 from neighbouring Zhejiang province, according to local officials, while some 30,000 fishing vessels returned to harbour.

Most flights from Fujian's capital Fuzhou were cancelled Thursday and schools province-wide have been ordered to close until Monday. Many airports and highways remained shut Friday and ferry services suspended.

In Fujian authorities said they were still awaiting a full damage report, but one official from the flood control office in Xiamen said streets were flooded in the city port, one of China's largest.

"Until midnight there was no big damage, but the rain has become heavier and a lot of places have flooded," he said.

It was a similar picture in Fuzhou with flood waters turning streets into rivers, the China Daily said. "My car is swimming in the flooded street," said a taxi driver.

In neighbouring Quanzhou, a small city with an extensive agricultural industry, a flood control official said damage was estimated at 136 million dollars.

Shanghai, which only weeks ago was battered by Typhoon Matsa, saw winds hit 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour but was spared any substantial damage.

Matsa killed 10 people when it ripped through eastern China, seven of them in Shanghai. It came just two weeks after Typhoon Haitang left 17 people dead in the same region and another 12 dead in Taiwan.

Early Friday, Talim was weakening as it moved northwest across eastern Jiangxi province at around 20 kilometres per hour, the China Meteorological Observatory reported.

East and southeast China are prone to typhoons and have been pummelled by dozens over the past 50 years.