Typhoon Slams Into China After Sweeping Taiwan
Date: 26-Jul-06
Country: CHINA
Kaemi made landfall at 0750 GMT near Jinjiang city in the southeastern province of Fujian, bringing strong winds and rain in its wake, the official Xinhua news agency said.
About 435,000 people were evacuated along Fujian's coast facing Taiwan and 3,000 armed police were standing by, Xinhua said, adding that 23 flights had been cancelled in provincial capital Fuzhou.
Some 80,000 people were also evacuated in neighouring Zhejiang province.
The storm had sustained winds of up to 108 kph (68 mph) and maximum gusts of 137 kph, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said.
Officials fear Kaemi could cause more problems in China's southern provinces where floods and other disasters brought by Tropical Storm Bilis claimed at least 612 lives and left over 200 missing since it struck the country on July 14.
Authorities in Fujian and Guangdong provinces ordered ships to return to port and warned local officials to monitor major rivers, reservoirs and dams already swollen from heavy rains in the wake of Bilis.
In Taiwan, where Kaemi landed on Monday night, six people, including a seven-year-old girl, were injured, mostly on roads in the eastern part of the island, while about 475 people had been evacuated, government officials said.
The typhoon closed schools and offices in five cities and counties in southeastern Taiwan and the outlying island of Penghu. Some schools were also closed in central Taiwan.
More than 40 domestic flights were cancelled in southeastern Taiwan. In southern Kaohsiung, some international flights were suspended, airport officials said.
Transport officials said Kaohsiung harbour, Taiwan's largest, was closed, although the Keelung port in the north remained open.
Kaemi also knocked out power to about 30,000 people, mostly in Hualien in the east coast, said Taiwan Power Co. spokesman Clint Chou.
"The winds were quite strong," Chou said. "Because of the broken poles, we perhaps need some time to restore power."
Tropical storms and typhoons frequently hit Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China during a season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.
