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Typhoon batters south-east China | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Typhoon Morakot has struck China's south-east coast, destroying hundreds of houses and flooding farmland. | |
Almost one million people were evacuated ahead of the storm, which crashed ashore in Fujian province with winds of up to 119km/h (74mph). | |
Flights were cancelled and fishing boats recalled to shore. A small boy died when a building collapsed. | |
Morakot has already hit Taiwan, killing at least three people and causing some of the worst flooding for 50 years. | |
In one incident, an entire hotel - empty at the time - was swept away by the waters. | |
'Treetops visible' | |
Chinese state media said that the sky turned completely dark in Beibi, Fujian, when Typhoon Morakot made landfall at 1620 local time (0820 GMT). | |
Trees were uprooted as high winds and heavy rain lashed the coast. | |
Some 473,000 residents of Zhejiang province were evacuated before the typhoon struck, as well as 480,000 from Fujian, Xinhua news agency said. | |
In Zhejiang's Wenzhou City a four year-old child was killed when a house collapsed. Dozens of roads were said to be flooded and the city's airport was closed. | |
Rescuers used dinghies to reach worst-hit areas; in one area only the tops of trees were said to be showing above the floodwater. | |
The storm is expected to move north and weaken, but strong winds are expected to persist for three days, forecasters say. | |
Taiwan devastation | |
Morakot dumped 250cm of rain on Taiwan as it crossed the island on Saturday, washing away bridges and roads. | |
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Taiwan hotel collapses after typhoon | Taiwan hotel collapses after typhoon |
At least three people were known to have died - a woman whose car went into a ditch and two men who drowned. | |
Thirty-one others were reported missing, Taiwan's Disaster Relief Centre said. Among them were a group reportedly washed away from a make-shift shelter in Kaohsiung in the south. | |
At least 10,000 people were trapped in three coastal towns, a local official in the southern county of Pingtung said. | |
In Chihpen, one of Taiwan's most famous hot spring resorts, a hotel collapsed after flood waters undermined its foundations. | |
Morakot - which means emerald in Thai - has also contributed to heavy rains in the Philippines. At least 10 people were killed in flooding and landslides in the north. | |
Typhoons are frequent in the region between July and September. | |
Are you on China's south-eastern coast? How is Typhoon Morakot affecting you? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. | Are you on China's south-eastern coast? How is Typhoon Morakot affecting you? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. |
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