Tropical storm Haima, the 21st of the year, lashed the town of
Yongqiang in the city of Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang
Province, at around noon Monday.
A fishing boat with 16 people on board was still missing after
the rescue work was forced to be suspended with the approach of the
tropical storm.
The boat, which was from Xiapu County in East China's Fujian
Province, capsized off the coast of Zhejiang last Friday.
The local government sent rescuers to the scene after receiving
the accident report, but abandoned their long search after being
warned of the approach of Haima.
The strong gale continues to hamper rescue efforts, said
officials with the Wenzhou Maritime Safety Administration.
With winds as powerful as force 8, Haima, which means seahorse
in Chinese, made its land fall at the storm-weary city of Wenzhou,
which was battered by Typhoon Rananim about a month ago.
It continues to move northwestwards, said local weather
forecasters, but the strength of the wind has reduced.
The local government set up a 24-hour monitoring system and once
again urged the public to be on high alert against mountain
torrents and mud slides.
The province has taken steps to bring fishing boats back to the
safety of their ports and evacuate residents to safer areas.
Local education authorities required all schools in Wenzhou to
take a half day off Monday.
About 8 million cubic meters of water in reservoirs were drained
beforehand as torrential rains were expected in the province.
Although the tropical storm is weaker than Typhoon Rananim,
which was blamed for the deaths of 164 people, it is expected to
bring rainy weather to the province until tomorrow, said Pan
Jinsong, a senior official at Zhejiang Meteorological
Observatory.
By press time, no reports were available of damages caused by
the tropical storm.
East China's Fujian Province, which was prepared to fight the
disaster, escaped the attack since Haima headed northward to
Zhejiang Province after it hit Taiwan.
According to the Fujian Provincial Meteorological Observatory,
northern part of Zhejiang?was currently under the influence of
the outer bands of the storm, which is bringing considerable
amounts of rainfall and strong winds of force 9.
At least seven people are feared dead in floods and a landslide
triggered by Haima that is dumping torrential rain across northern
Taiwan, the Taipei Times reported.
It said rock and earth loosened by days of downpours swept away
three houses and buried a family of four, including a 12-year-old
boy, in mountainous Hsinchu County, the same region that was
devastated by Typhoon Aere last month.
According to a Taiwan News report, Haima will continue
to dump heavy rains on the island until Tuesday.
(China Daily September 14, 2004)
