The tropical storm that has been thrashing eastern Guangdong Province this week caused a fishing vessel to capsize near Nan'ao Island at about noon on Tuesday. Twenty-two fishermen remain missing.

The search was still ongoing Wednesday evening and included elements of the South China Sea Fleet and Marine Departments from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Zhang Dejiang, Party secretary of Guangdong Province, and Governor Huang Huahua have expressed their concern in the case. Shantou Party Secretary Lin Musheng and Mayor Huang Zhiguang arrived at the scene to oversee rescue operations on Wednesday.

But local fishermen fear the missing people might have died after spending more than a day in the cold sea.

Another fishing boat sank off Huilai, a coastal county in eastern Guangdong, leaving three fishermen missing on Tuesday evening. A separate search and rescue operation was also ongoing as of Wednesday evening.

The 11th tropical storm to hit China's coast this year slammed into Guangdong at 11:10 AM on Tuesday. The cities of Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang have been hardest hit, with numerous sections of river and coastal dykes, as well as water conservation facilities, destroyed. Many crop fields were flooded.

In Chaozhou City's Chao'an County, at least one person was killed when a tornado struck at about noon on Wednesday. Seven other residents were injured and more than 100 houses in four villages were damaged or destroyed.

A total of 409 people from 93 families were left homeless.

The heavy rainfall that hit the provincial capital of Guangzhou caused chaos in the city's busy downtown areas. Many streets in the business districts were flooded.

The heavy rainfall also caused the water level in the Xijiang River -- the main tributary of the Pearl River -- to rise over the warning line on Wednesday, threatening the cities and counties along its course. The Guangdong Provincial Anti-Flooding Headquarters issued an emergency notice to urge cities and counties along the Xijiang River to be prepared for floods.

The storm and unstable weather is expected to continue to affect the southern Chinese province until the end of the week, according to the Guangdong Province Meteorological Observatory.

The storm, however, has helped to ease the drought that left Guangdong parched earlier this summer.

(China Daily July 29, 2004)