A CHILD was killed, houses were flattened and nearly one million people were forced to evacuate their homes as typhoon Morakot battered China’s eastern coast yesterday, bringing heavy rains and with high waves battering the coast.
The tropical storm made landfall at 4:20pm local time at Beibi town in Fujian Province, packing winds up to 118.8km/h in its eye, the provincial meteorological bureau told Xinhua news agency.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed and farmlands were inundated. “The sky turned completely dark in Beibi and people caught in rainstorms staggered with flashlights on. Many trees were uprooted, some even breaking apart in strong winds,” the agency said.
The response to the annual typhoons that lash China’s coastline is usually swift and efficient, but the typhoon season plays havoc with air traffic, fishing and shipping in the region.
The first death from the storm in China came when a home collapsed in the factory town of Wenzhou in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang, killing a four-year-old boy.
More than 490,000 people were evacuated in Zhejiang and 480,000 in neighboring Fujian.
Morakot, which means “emerald” in Thai, had already swept self-ruled Taiwan, killing three people and leaving 31 missing, and causing the island’s worst flooding in 50 years.
In Taitung in southern Taiwan, TV footage showed the dramatic collapse of a six-storey hotel into the rain-swollen river below after rushing waters had knocked out its foundations. All 300 people inside were evacuated and uninjured.
The winds had been expected to weaken as they hit the mainland but they still caused devastation.
Xinhua ran dramatic photographs of farmers trying to recapture fish flushed from mudflat fish farms by the rising waves. Village officials in Zhejiang cycled their bicycles through the deluge to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to residents stranded by deep floods.
In Wenzhou, more than 560,000 people were affected by the storm that destroyed more than 300 homes and forced the closures of 56 roads, Xinhua said. More than 35,000 ships have been recalled to port in Zhejiang and many motorways in the province were closed.
More than 50 flights were cancelled or delayed at the Changle airport in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province. Rescuers attempted to reach eight sailors on a cargo ship stranded after strong winds blew it on to a reef off Fujian. This was the eighth typhoon of the year and some areas recorded as much as 300mm of rainfall. The typhoon was expected to weaken as it headed inland, but meteorologists warned it would bring powerful winds and heavy rain to Shanghai.
Typhoons are common between July and September in China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan. The tropical storms gather strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land.
Earlier, in the northern Philippines, the typhoon and lingering monsoon rains left 21 people dead and seven others missing, including three European tourists who were swept away on Thursday.