Typhoon Soudelor kills 9 in E China

WENZHOU - Typhoon Soudelor, the 13th this year, has left 9 people dead and another 3 missing in Wenzhou City in East China's Zhejiang Province, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Sunday.

Heavy downpours have caused mudslides and cave-ins in the city's rural areas, and several houses collapsed on Saturday night.

According to officials with the headquarters, the dead and missing people may have been washed away by floods or buried under the collapsed houses.

After pounding Taiwan and leaving six people dead, Soudelor landed in the Chinese mainland Saturday night in Fujian Province and moved from there to neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces.

In Wencheng county, under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou, precipitation within 24 hours hit 645 mm, the heaviest in a hundred years, officials said.

A total of 221,900 people were affected in Wenzhou, with a direct economic loss of 248 million yuan.

Zhejiang Province issued an orange alert for rainstorms earlier Sunday.

Soudelor landed in Fujian Province at 10:10 pm Saturday in Putian county. As of 7 am Sunday, precipitation in 16 cities and counties reached 250 mm. The city of Fuding experienced the heaviest downpour of over 501 mm.

In the provincial capital of Fuzhou, much of the downtown area was waterlogged. More than 10,000 trees had fallen and traffic stalled on flooded streets.

A total of 163,200 people were evacuated to shore on Saturday night,according to the provincial flood control and drought relief office.

Power supply for more than two million households was affected, and was restored for 630,000 households as of Sunday morning after urgent repairs, according to State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co, Ltd.

Three airports in the province were closed, with more than 530 flights canceled. Six expressways were closed. Also canceled were 191 high-speed trains.

As the typhoon moved to East China's Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, the Fujian flood control and drought relief office downgraded the level-three typhoon emergency response to level-two.

Meanwhile, East China's Jiangxi Province launched a level-three emergency response as the typhoon was expected to land in the province around noon Sunday.

Soudelor landed in Taiwan earlier Saturday and left at least six people dead, four missing and 102 injured before it entered mainland China.