Torrential rains left at least 14 dead in China as Typhoon Hagupit battered the south and another storm pounded quake-hit central Sichuan province, state media reported on Thursday.
Six people were confirmed dead in southern Guangdong province where Hagupit destroyed buildings, uprooted trees and brought reservoirs to the brink of overflowing, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, a separate storm cut off more than 20 000 people in five towns in Jiangyou, an area in Sichuan still recovering from the May 12 earthquake, as telephone lines were downed and roads became impassable, Xinhua reported.
At least eight were killed and 38 were missing in Sichuan after Wednesday’s heavy rains caused flash floods, cave-ins and landslides, the agency reported.
Guangdong emergency officials put economic losses due to Hagupit at six billion yuan ($770-million), the agency reported, calling it the worst typhoon to hit the province in a decade.
In Guangzhou City, residents could be seen wading through the street in waist-deep water as soldiers wearing life jackets over their uniforms helped with relief efforts, in photos put out by Xinhua.
In the Guangdong city of Zhanjiang, high winds destroyed a factory under construction and a petrol station, but the agency said no one was reported injured in either incident.
The provincial meteorological bureau said the typhoon was tailing off while moving north-west, but rains were expected to continue through Thursday.
In the provincial capital, Guangzhou, more than 800 houses were flooded, and police officers using rafts rescued more than 30 trapped residents.
In the coastal city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, frontier police rescued five people trapped at sea in a fishing vessel, including a woman and two children.
In Hong Kong, nearly 60 people aged from six to 89 were hospitalised with typhoon-related injuries, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. Three were in a serious condition. — AFP
