Typhoon Soudelor hits China with deaths, floods and mudslides
|
Version 0 of 1. The number of people killed by typhoon Soudelor in China rose to 17, state media reported on Monday, with five more missing. Three people were killed by a mudslide and one was missing after being swept away by floods in Ningde, in the eastern province of Fujian, the Fujian Daily reported. In neighbouring Zhejiang province 14 were killed and four were missing. The official news agency Xinhua quoted local officials as saying that the dead and missing may have been washed away by floods or buried under ruined homes. The direct economic losses in the two provinces were estimated at around eight billion yuan ($1.29bn). Billed as the biggest typhoon of the year with winds of up to 230kmh (142mph), Soudelor – named after a Micronesian chief – has since weakened. It made landfall in Fujian on Saturday night after leaving six people dead in Taiwan. The death toll there included twin sisters and their mother, who were all swept out to sea. It also knocked out power to a record four million households on the island. About 379 people were injured by the storm in Taiwan, which saw rivers break their banks under torrential rain and towering waves pound the coastline. The China Meteorological Administration lifted its typhoon warning on Monday as the storm weakened and moved further inland. |