As of 11 AM Thursday, the death toll from Typhoon Kaemi and
the ensuing natural disasters has risen to 18 on the Chinese
mainland as nine more fatalities were confirmed in eastern Jiangxi
Province Thursday morning.
Floods and landslides have so far claimed 16 lives in the
province, with 64 still missing, according to the provincial flood
control headquarters.
Six of the new deaths came after a mountain torrent on Wednesday
morning washed away a military barracks in Jiangxi, which also left
38 missing.
In addition, three more villagers' bodies were found at the
county of Shangyou, the worst-hit place since Typhoon Kaemi entered
Jiangxi on Tuesday, said Ye Yuzhong, vice mayor of Ganzhou City,
who is supervising the rescue operation in the county.
Earlier reports said Kaemi, the fifth of the year made landfall
at 11:45 PM on July 24 at Taitung of Taiwan Island, entered
into the Taiwan Straits at around 4:00 AM on July 25 and hit
Jinjiang of Fujian at 3:50 PM the same day.
The typhoon, meaning "ant" in Korean have brought continuous
rainstorm and triggered landslides and floods as it swept along the
provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and Hunan.
Though exact loss brought by Kaemi to the Chinese mainland is
still unavailable due to the breakdown of communication and traffic
systems in the affected areas, the typhoon has forced more than
700,000 people to move elsewhere.
In Jiangxi alone, at least 329,000 people have been affected by
rainstorms and ensuing disasters, 9,210 houses were toppled down
and 6,400 hectares of farmland were spoiled. Direct economic losses
were estimated at 150 million yuan (US$18.75 million), according to
the provincial flood and drought relief office.
The provincial observatory of Jiangxi forecasted rainstorm would
continue soaking the whole province on Thursday though Kaemi
weakened to tropical low press on Wednesday. Local governments are
warned to heighten vigilance against ensuing disasters.
South China's Guangdong Province also reported two deaths by the
office of the National Natural Disaster Reduction Committee, while
local authorities are still counting the missing and affected
population.
As typhoon Kaemi triggered flood and landslide in central
China's Hunan Province on Wednesday, seven people were reportedly
missing, but four of them had been found by Thursday morning.
(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2006)