Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, who headed on Monday to the typhoon-hit regions in Fujian and Zhejiang, warned on Tuesday that the country faces grim tasks of fighting secondary disasters as a result of Typhoon Morakot.

Big floods are still likely to happen as heavy rainfall persists in the south and many rivers continued to maintain high water levels, he said.

More than 20 rivers reported water levels above flood-alarm lines in Zhejiang, Fujian and Anhui provinces.

Hui asked relevant departments to strengthen monitoring of flooding and forecasts of other disasters, so as to relocate people as quickly as possible to minimize casualties.

Typhoon Morakot has left eight people dead and three missing on the Chinese mainland after a powerful landing in east China Sunday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Morakot had moved into the Yellow Sea, and would gradually pose less threat to coastal provinces in eastern China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)