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Death toll from China storms rises to at least 20
Beijing (AFP) Aug 20, 2007 The death toll from Typhoon Sepat in southeastern China has risen to at least 20, the government said Monday, as the remnants of the storm continued to cause damage. In the southeastern province of Fujian, eight people were confirmed dead after torrential rain triggered flooding and mudslides, an official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs told AFP. Meanwhile, at least 12 have been killed in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where a tornado that spun off from the typhoon ripped through Wenzhou city, said the official who declined to give his name. The semi-official China News Service website reported that the death toll in Wenzhou had risen to 14, with more than 60 injured, six of them seriously. State media had on Sunday put the death toll from Sepat at 15. A report on the ministry's website said 13 people remained missing, without specifying where they lived. It said a total of 4.58 million people in Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces have been affected, while authorities have evacuated more than one million people. The storms destroyed about 141,400 (350,000 acres) hectares of farmland across the three provinces, where over 7,600 houses have fallen and 28,000 others were damaged, it added. Direct economic losses across the three provinces are estimated at 2.46 billion yuan (324 million dollars), the ministry said. "The impact of the typhoon is tapering off but there will be more disasters yet such as rains, landslides, flows of mud and rocks," the official told AFP. The China Meteorological Administration said on its website that Sepat had been downgraded to a tropical depression after it entered Fujian late Sunday. It has since moved inland to neighbouring Jiangxi province. The tropical depression will however continue to wreak havoc in southern and central China over the next two days, as more rain is forecast for a number of provinces including Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Hunan, it said. Wide swathes of China have been plagued by near-constant torrential downpours since the summer rainy season began. Rains brought by tropical storm Pabuk in southern Guangdong province earlier this month affected more than one million people and destroyed thousands of houses, state media reports said. The latest government figures show that extreme weather killed 712 people and left 163 missing across China in July alone. Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
East Africa floods displace hundreds of thousands
Kampala (AFP) Aug 18, 2007Heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in East Africa Saturday, as floods that have already displaced hundreds of thousands heightened fears of food shortages and disease outbreaks across the region. |
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