At least two persons were killed and 17 others listed missing after Typhoon Nepartak swept through east China today, leaving behind a trail of destruction as it thrashed the region with heavy rain and strong winds that uprooted trees and forced evacuation of over 4 lakh residents.
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The military yesterday sent more personnel, machines and vehicles to Taitung County, the area worst-hit by Typhoon Neparak, to help with the clean-up and restoration.
Nepartak, the first typhoon of the season, landed at 1:45 PM local time in Fujian province’s Shishi City, packing winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.
Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled, while damaged power stations left swaths of the province without electricity.
About 420,000 people were urged to evacuate and multiple modes of transportation were shut down including five airports, 341 high-speed trains and nearly 5,000 buses.
Almost 15,800 hectares of crops were damaged by the typhoon, of which 1,600 hectares were totally destroyed, while the direct economic losses were estimated at Dollars 128.7 million, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
A red rainstorm alert was issued in Putian City, which experienced more than 250 millimeters of precipitation in four hours early this morning.
Nepartak made landfall on Saturday afternoon in east China’s Fujian Province, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the coastal city.
With this the death toll in the recent heavy rains and floods in China mounted to 172 while about 40 people still remain unaccounted for.
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Meteorologists blame the floods on a particularly intense El Nino weather pattern that has resulted in up to a 50 per cent increase in rainfall in certain areas. The storm moved on Sunday into neighbouring Jiangxi Province, where 500 people have been evacuated, the ministry said.
