Southern provinces take another battering
Half a million people flee ferocity of second massive storm in two weeks
Typhoon Kaemi struck southeastern China yesterday, forcing the evacuation of more than half a million people less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Bilis ravaged the same region.
Kaemi, the fifth typhoon of the year, landed near Weitou county in southern Fujian at 3.50pm, with winds gusting at 118km/h, the Fujian Water Resources Commission said. It was heading northwest towards Jiangxi province , but was gradually weakening.
The Fujian provincial government evacuated more than 645,900 residents to safety and recalled more than 44,000 vessels to port. The authorities also stockpiled food, tents and medical supplies before the typhoon landed.
Fujian mobilised more than 3,000 police and deployed vehicles and speedboats for rescue missions. Dozens of special taskforces were sent to mountainous regions to organise flood prevention work. There were no reports of casualties.
Flights were cancelled in the provincial capital, Fuzhou , and schools suspended all outdoor activities. Kaemi brought heavy rain to Fujian, with the flood control and drought relief headquarters saying average rainfall in coastal areas was between 50mm and 90mm in 24 hours. Some regions recorded more than 105mm.
The Fujian observatory predicted bad weather for the next few days and warned of possible landslides and flooding in Fuzhou, Putian , Quanzhou , Xiamen and Zhangzhou .
In Zhejiang to the north, the provincial government issued a typhoon warning on Monday night and moved almost 100,000 residents from low-lying areas.
About 25,000 ships were recalled to port and reservoirs were sluiced out to prepare for possible flooding.
Kaemi is expected to leave Fujian today, but bad weather would persist in Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui , Zhejiang and Guangdong for days, authorities said.
Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu has asked officials to keep a close watch on rivers and reservoirs. He said governments must ensure there were no outbreaks of epidemics in the affected areas and provide food and clean water to refugees.
Kaemi comes hard on the heels of Tropical Storm Bilis, which ravaged Fujian and Zhejiang, killing 612 people on the mainland and leaving 208 missing, official figures showed. More than 3 million people had to be evacuated.
The state flood control and drought relief headquarters has sent a team of experts to Fujian to help local authorities.
China climate expert Lin Yi said this year's weather was highly unusual. He stressed the need for the government to be fully prepared. Mr Lin said he believed the change of weather might be caused by global warming.
