A child was killed and houses were flattened after Typhoon Morakot battered China's eastern coast today, bringing torrential rain and high waves likely to disrupt life and business across the heavily commercial region.
The death came as Morakot landed on the densely populated Chinese mainland in the afternoon, toppling five houses in Wenzhou, a manufacturing hub on the coast of Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
"Four adults and a four-year-old boy were buried in debris and the child died during the afternoon after emergency treatment failed," Xinhua said, citing city officials.
The typhoon had already swept Taiwan, the self-ruled island off the Chinese coast, killing one person with 27 missing, Taiwanese disaster-response officials said today. Although the winds appeared set to weaken as the typhoon plouged into the mainland, authorities there were not taking any chances.
While mainland authorities have become practiced in preparing for the typhoon season, the chaotic weather can disrupt business, fishing and shipping across this export-driven region.
Half a million people in coastal Fujian province were moved to safer parts ahead of the typhoon's arrival, together with a similar number in neighbouring Zhejiang, Xinhua reported.
In Fujian's provincial capital, Fuzhou, "people were rushing to supermarkets for necessities before the typhoon arrived," the report added.
Flights from Fuzhou and Xiamen, another city on the Fujian coast, were cancelled, and fishing boats along the coast have been called to shore. At least one cargo ship was stranded after the strong winds and waves pushed it into shallows.
Further up the coast, Shanghai was on "high alert" and dozens of cargo ships in the area have delayed or cancelled trips, with forecasters warning of torrential downpours and waves at sea up to 7 metres or higher.
Typhoons regularly hit China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land.
Reuters