BEIJING
A typhoon that brought record rainfall to east China has left 14 people dead and four others missing, according to local media Monday.
Flood control authorities in Zhejiang province said that 12 of the fatalities from Typhoon Soudelor were recorded in Wenzhou, the hardest-hit city where four others remain missing, after swept away by flash floods or buried under landslides or collapsed buildings.
Another two people were killed in the neighboring city of Lishui, the China Daily reported.
The daily quoted a Wenzhou resident surnamed Chen as saying that “the rain pounded non-stop on Saturday night and when we woke up this morning, the car parked outside the home had almost been submerged."
Typhoon Soudelor -- the thirteenth to hit China this year – made landfall in southeastern Fujian province Saturday night after leaving at least six people dead, four missing and 102 injured in Taiwan. It then moved northward to the neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
The heavy rainfall set a record in some counties in eastern China by reaching 700 millimeters -- a new high in up to 120 years.
Several townships in Wenzhou and Lishui remain flooded with waters as deep as four meters.
Around 1.58 million people have been affected in Zhejiang, with 188,400 forced to relocate by Sunday afternoon. The Daily also reported that 223 houses had collapsed, and 272 roads suffered damage alongside 43,600 hectares of crops – resulting in a 4 billion yuan ($644 million) in direct economic loss.
785,000 homes suffered power outages, but services to 60 percent of them were restored by Sunday evening.
Meanwhile in Fujian – where more than 160,000 people had been evacuated before the typhoon made landfall, 1.1 million people had been affected.
Direct economic losses of 986 million yuan ($159 million) were recorded, with 14,330 hectares of crops being damaged.
State news agency Xinhua reported that three airports in Fujian were temporarily closed, resulting in the cancelation of more than 530 flights.
A total of 191 high-speed trains were also canceled while six expressways were closed.
