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Typhoon Morakot forces evacuation of 970,000
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-09 15:16

Typhoon Morakot forces evacuation of 970,000
Strong tides surge on the Qiantang River as typhoon Morakot approaches in Haining, a city of east China's Zhejiang Province, August 8, 2009. [Xinhua]

HANGZHOU: As Typhoon Morakot neared, more than 970,000 people in two coastal east China provinces were evacuated to safety Sunday.

More than 490,000 residents of Zhejiang and more than 480,000 from Fujian have been relocated.

In Zhejiang approximately 35,440 ships have been called back from sea, the provincial flood-control headquarters said Sunday morning.

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The latest weather forecasts from meteorological stations in Zhejiang and Fujian said Morakot was moving at a speed of up to 10 kilometers an hour northwestward from the sea and was likely to land on the border between the two provinces during Sunday afternoon or in the evening.

Zhejiang issued a red alert, the highest, Sunday morning, as it registered a maximum wind speed of nearly 180 km an hour in the coastal Taizhou City area. Gales, expected to last for 60 hours, were expected to cause waves up to 7 meters.

Strong winds and heavy rainstorms have already caused problems in the province and are expected to do further damage when the typhoon lands.

Wenzhou City airport has canceled 39 domestic flights, the airport authority said.

Continuous rainfall in many village areas has caused floods and landslides which have paralyzed traffic flows.

Officials in some Zhejiang villages were riding bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to households stranded by deep water.

"Some villages have been inundated and vehicles can't reach them," said taxi driver Wang Jian.

The province registered its greatest precipitation of 800 mm in Taishun County, Wenzhou.

A number of expressways in the province had been closed, said the provincial highway management authority.

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