Coastal provinces bracing for typhoon Haitang
By Shao Xiaoyi in Hangzhou, and？8u Meidong, Li Dapeng in Fuzhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-19 05:59

Reservoirs, dikes and embankments began round-the-clock surveillance to stay ahead of possible danger.

The Wenzhou city government held an emergency teleconference to tighten security and relocate people from 1,388 threatened locations.

Education authorities in both provinces asked schools and summer camps to stop all student activities. They organized inspections and urgent repairs to old buildings.

All mining work, large open-air construction and receptions at tourist resorts were halted.

Pan Jinsong, spokesman with the Zhejiang Meteorological Observatory in Hangzhou, said the strength of the typhoon at landfall might be weaker than Rananim, which battered the province last year.

Most of the 58 injured in Taiwan were hurt by falling trees, billboards and broken glass, while the winds also disrupted power supplies in Changhua, Pingtung, Yunlin, Tainan, Hualien and Ilan counties.

Statistics show that as of yesterday morning, more than 1.07 million households on the island were without electricity.

Continuing heavy rain also caused considerable damage to crops in Kaohsiung County.

Airlines using Taiwan's airports cancelled more than 160 scheduled flights yesterday, affecting the travel plans of some 12,000 passengers.