Efforts pay off against typhoon By Bao Daozu (China Daily) Updated: 2004-08-27 02:02
Efforts made by provincial government to evacuate almost 1 million people
before Typhoon Aere, the 18th of the year, landed in Fujian Province paid off.
Only houses and infrastructure were damaged but there were no casualties.
Still, 2.44 million people were affected and 46,800 hectares of farmland
ruined.
In total, the province moved 937,000 people to safety while neighbouring
Zhijiang Province, fearing a repeat of the chaos caused by Typhoon Rananim that
left 164 dead just weeks ago, evacuated 249,000.
Three cities in Fujian Province were flooded and more than 8,000 houses were
damaged.
Damages were estimated to be about 2 billion yuan (US$242 million).
Though the impact of Aere was still lingering around southern parts of
Fujian, transportation warnings were cleared early Thursday morning.
The provincial government set aside 5 million yuan (US$604,595) as reserve
funds to settle the affected people.
Local officials said the situation turned out to be better than expected as
preparation and rescue work had been efficient.
Aere made touched ground three times Fujian Province from Wednesday afternoon
to early Thursday morning and blew southwestwards along the coastal line of the
province. It was rare movement for a typhoon.
Liu Aimin, Vice-director of Fujian Meteorology Observatory said typhoons
normally go northwestwards into inland areas.
Experts say that the unusual route of Aere has something to do with typhoon
Chaba, the 17th of the year, which is still active in the northwest of the
Pacific. The two typhoons affected each other and made Aere move
counterclockwise.
Typhoon Aere, which was decreased to tropical storm in strength, left Fujian
and battered South China's Guangdong Province Thursday, breaching some sections
of coastal dykes and reservoirs in the eastern part of the province.
Some houses in the cities and counties in the coastal areas were also
destroyed or damaged by the disaster.
Many trees and advertisement boards were knocked down by the strong winds,
blockading local traffic operation.
But no deaths and injures have, so far, been reported. Damage estimates have
not been calculated yet.
Special attention have been urged to pay to prevent mountain torrents,
mud-slide and mud-rock flow.
Most cities in Guangdong's eastern coastal areas were hit with more than 100
millimeters of rain Thursday.
Aere, however, could help ease the serious drought situation and cool the hot
weather in the southern Chinese province.
Affected by Aere, Guangdong is expected to witness heavy rainfall in the
coming weekend.
In other areas, however, Aere brought with it heavy human toll.
At least 15 people were killed by a mudslide triggered by the typhoon in
northern Taiwan's mountainous areas, Zheng Yongjin, head of Xinzhu County, told
Xinhua.
The Taiwan authority sent military helicopters to the disaster area and began
the rescuing work.
So far, 22 people have been confirmed dead, five missing and 35 are injured
since Typhoon Aere slammed into the island four days ago.
Taiwan was hit hard by the typhoon as power was cut to 360,000 households and
910,000 lost their water supply Wednesday night.
The typhoon caused most problems in the hills and mountains of northern
Taiwan as the traffic was interrupted in 27 mountainous regions.
In another development, a tornado swept through the Gaoqiao Town in Ningbo, a
coastal city of East China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday.
Two people were slightly injured but power supply to parts of downtown
neighbourhoods was cut off.
Local witness said the 5-minute tornado hit at about 1:55 am, sweeping tiles
from houses.
Official statistics showed that 116 families in six villages in Gaoqiao Town
were affected and the damages were estimated at more than 1.8 million
yuan(US$216,000).
Experts said the cause of the tornado was hard to determine and Typhoon Aere
may have been a factor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top China
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|