By 10:00 PM yesterday the death toll from Typhoon Saomai had
risen to 295 in China and is likely to mount as another 94 people
remain missing in Fuding, the worst hit city in China's southeast
coastal province of Fujian.
The city government said 178 people were confirmed dead by
Monday night and 155 bodies had been recovered. "On Monday alone 59
bodies were discovered in the sea off Shacheng Harbor," said Cai
Meisen, vice mayor of Fuding.
Officials with Fujian provincial flood control and drought
relief headquarters said most people were killed when the super
strong typhoon broke the moorings of their vessels that had sought
shelter in harbor.
The others were killed in typhoon-triggered disasters on land
such as floods, landslides and mud-flows. Local authorities and
residents are still searching for the missing. The Fuding death
toll update brings total fatalities in Fujian to 206.
Previous reports listed 87 dead and 52 missing in east China's
Zhejiang Province where Saomai struck and two
dead and one missing in nearby Jiangxi Province.
Also in Zhejiang at least 2.1 million people have been affected,
18,000 houses destroyed, 56 provincial roads and national highways
swamped, causing estimated losses of 4.89 billion yuan (US$611
million).
In Fuding the storm damaged a 1,146-year-old Buddhist temple
causing its gate house to collapse along with 20 other buildings.
The damage to the Ziguo Temple totaled 5 million yuan
(US$625,000).
Saomai, the eighth typhoon in China this year, slammed into
Cangnan County of Wenzhou City at 5:25 PM last Thursday. It was
downgraded to a tropical depression by 11 AM the following day.
Saomai, the most powerful typhoon for the past 50 years, killed at
least two people in the Philippines earlier and brought heavy rain
to Japan.
According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA),
another two tropical storms, Sonamu and Wukong, were respectively
located at latitude 18.1 north, longitude 129.9 east and latitude
26.4 north, longitude 138.0 east Monday. CMA experts said they are
not likely to affect China in the next couple of days.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)