Thanks to the full anti-typhoon preparations, by press time, no casualty was reported in eastern Fujian Province after the year's second strongest Typhoon Aere landed in province's Fuqing City around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Before Aere landed, some 516,000 people were evacuated to safe placed and more than 10,600 vessels were called back to port.

By 10 p.m. Wednesday, the eye of Aere moved southward at a speed of 15 kilometers to Shishi City after sweeping past Putian, Chongwu and Jinjiang and will affect the cities of Quanzhou and Xiamen, according to the provincial meteorological station.

Affected by Aere, most areas of Fujian were hit by mediate to heavy rainfall. Statistics from the provincial flood control office showed 10 counties and districts had received a precipitation of more than 100 mm and traffic in some counties was cut off.

In addition, flights from the province's Xiamen to Jinmen in Taiwan were suspended and express way from Fuzhou, the provincial capital, to Jinjiang was also closed.

Although Aere has brought damages to Fujian, it is also helpful to ease the drought situation of the province, said Yang Zhiying, vice director of the provincial drought control headquarters.

While in Fujian's neighboring province of Zhejiang, one villager was missing and more than 17,000 people were evacuated in Wenzhou City after Typhoon Aere landed.

The missing is a villager from the Butou village. He was swept by flood water when he was crossing a swelling brook Wednesday morning. At press time, rescuers have not found him, according to the city's flood and drought control bureau.

The strong storms also hit most areas of Wenzhou. Nearly 20,000 people in more than 10 villages were trapped by flooding one-meter in depth.

Local government has dispatched rescue vessels, buses and trucks to rescue the more than 800 local residents who were caught in the floods.

Aere, the 18th typhoon this year, was expected to be the secondmost powerful typhoon to ravage southern China this year, according to forecast by the Central Meteorological Station. Typhoon Rananim which hit Wenling City in east China's Zhejiang Province on Aug. 12 was the strongest, for the deaths of at least 164 people.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2004)