Tropical storm Krosa affects 5 million people in east China
8/10/2007 16:01
Tropical storm Krosa has affected more than 5 million people in east
China's Zhejiang Province after it drenched the Chinese mainland's southeast
coast.
Krosa made landfall at the coast between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces
yesterday afternoon as a typhoon, the 16th this year, but it quickly weakened to
a tropical storm without causing casualties in the Chinese mainland.
The
storm, which had prompted evacuation of more than 1.41 million people in the two
provinces, affected 5.38 million residents in 649 townships of seven cities
across Zhejiang, incurring 4.58 billion yuan in economic losses, the provincial
flood control and drought relief headquarters said today.
Krosa brought about
strong winds and an average precipitation of 127 mm over the past two days,
pulling down at least 1,651 houses, inundating parts of four counties and making
rivers swollen, according to the headquarters.
The storm paralyzed
transportation services, cut off power supplies, suspended schooling and tourist
businesses in some areas.
Ship services between Fuzhou, capital of Fujian,
and Mawei resumed today after being halted on Saturday.
Krosa has been
hovering over Zhejiang since yesterday and is moving eastward at a speed of
about 10 km per hour.
In the eastern metropolis of Shanghai, where the
Special Olympics is taking place, the city government had relocated about 8,800
people, mainly workers, by yesterday evening from the coastal areas amid gales
and torrential rains of up to 160 mm.
Rescuers saved 22 sailors of two
Zhejiang-registered ships which were stranded near the beach of Shanghai early
yesterday morning.
Krosa has left five dead, two missing and 56 injured in
Taiwan, in addition to cutting off power supplies and halting highway and air
traffic,according to Taiwan media reports.
Xinhua
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