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 landed on the coast between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces
on Sunday afternoon as a typhoon, the 16th this year. It quickly
weakened into a tropical storm without causing any casualties on
the Chinese mainland.
The storm prompted the 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. It incurred 4.58 billion
yuan in economic losses, the provincial flood control and drought
relief headquarters said on Monday.
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 causing rivers to swell,
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, the capital of Fujian, and Mawei
resumed on Monday after being halted on Saturday.
Krosa has been hovering over Zhejiang since Sunday and is now
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 Sunday evening from coastal areas
amid gales and torrential rains of up to 160 mm.
Rescuers saved 22 sailors of two Zhejiang-registered ships, both
stranded near Shanghai beach early Sunday 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 News Agency October 8, 2007)