The power of the fifth typhoon of the year, Kaemi, diminished to
tropical low pressure at 5:00 AM on Wednesday in Pinghe County of
east China's Fujian Province.
According to the provincial meteorological observatory the
rainstorms resulting from Kaemi will continue for another few days
in Fujian particularly in coastal areas and western Longyan
City.
The observatory called for measures to be taken to prepare for
possible mountain torrents, landslides, mud-rock flows and other
weather related incidents in the province.
Earlier reports said Kaemi, meaning "ant" in Korean, made
landfall at 11:45 PM on Monday at Taitung of Taiwan Island, entered
the Taiwan Straits at around 4:00 AM on Tuesday and hit Jinjiang of
Fujian at 3:50 PM the same day. The eye of the typhoon had a wind
velocity of 33 meters per second when it hit the Chinese
mainland.
By 3:30 PM on Tuesday prior to Kaemi's landfall approximately
643,900 people in Fujian had been safely evacuated along with
319,400 who'd been working at sea, according to the provincial
flood control authorities.
The typhoon brought with it heavy rainfall of 50-105 millimeters
on Tuesday hitting many counties and cities across the province. In
the neighboring Guangdong Province all fishing vessels, 12,498
in total with around 46,000 crew on board, sheltered in
harbors.
Heavy rain also swept east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Local governments have
drafted emergency plans to deal with the typhoon.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2006)
