Heavy rain and flooding triggered by typhoon Fung Wong has claimed nine lives and caused around 2.37 billion yuan (about US$345.9 million) of economic loss in east China's Anhui Province, according to the provincial civil affairs bureau on Monday.

A preliminary investigation by the bureau showed the disaster had affected the lives of 2.59 million people in 38 counties, with 91,330 of them displaced as of 11:00 AM on Monday.

The typhoon also toppled 8,667 houses, damaged 38,300 houses and destroyed 43,000 hectares of farmland.

The bureau had dispatched 530 tents and assigned 5.1 million yuan as a disaster relief fund.

Fung Wong was the eighth tropical storm to hit the country this year. It was downgraded from a typhoon early on Tuesday after making landfall in Fujian, the area worst hit by the storm. The coastal province suffered economic losses of 1 billion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)