Nine people were killed and another 15 have gone missing in a series of landsides and cave-ins caused by typhoon Talim in Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.
Sources from the Wenzhou City Headquarters of Flood Control and Drought Relief said that Talim pounded Putian in Fujian Province, Zhejiang's close neighbor, at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, packing gusts at a maximum speed of 126 kilometers per hour.
As Talim passed, there were concentrated rainstorms in Wenzhou, Taizhou and Lishui of Zhejiang. Landslides and cave-ins took place in mountainous areas including Wencheng, Taishun and Cangnan, all in Wenzhou, on Thursday night, with the worst occurring in Shixiang Township of Wencheng, where all the casualties occurred.
Over 300 civilian houses in Cangnan County were destroyed in the downpour.
Currently, rescue operations are experiencing difficulties as the traffic to Shixiang Township, a five hours' bus ride to the county seat of Wencheng, was halted because highroads connecting to Shixiang were badly damaged in many places.
Zhejiang and Wenzhou authorities who have rushed to the seat of Wencheng have been going all out to reach the site of the disaster-hit Shixiang and expand rescue and relief efforts.