At least one child was killed and millions were affected as typhoon Morakot slammed into Chinese provinces on the eastern coast on Sunday, destroying houses and inundating farmlands.

Morakot landed in the coastal areas of Beibi Town, Xiapu County in Fujian Province, at 4:20 PM, packing winds up to 118.8 kilometers per hour in its eye, the province's meteorological bureau said.

The sky turned completely dark in Beibi and people caught in rainstorms staggered with flashlights on. Many trees were uprooted, with some even breaking apart in strong winds.

Farmers were trying to recapture a sizeable quantity of fish flushed from mudflat aquafarms by uprising waves.

In Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, 34 domestic flights were cancelled and 20 delayed because of unfavorable weather conditions. The city also suspended most passenger bus services.

In Zhejiang Province, more than 3.4 million people were affected as hundreds of villages were flooded and more than 1,800 houses collapsed, according to the Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

A total of 155 passenger ships were cancelled and more than 7,400 vessels were called back from the sea as the province's maritime authority raised the typhoon alarm to a red alert, its highest level, Sunday morning.

The economic loss was estimated at 2.2 billion yuan (US$322 million) as 143,000 hectares of farmland were damaged and nearly 9,000 enterprises suspended production.

The front of the eighth typhoon of the year had previously triggered continuous downpours and strong winds in Fujian and its neighboring Zhejiang Province before its landing, which forced the evacuation of nearly one million people to safety.

Five houses were destroyed as the front of the typhoon brought rainfall of 700 mm to Wenzhou City in Zhejiang just after 8:00 AM on Sunday.

Three adults and a 4-year-old boy were buried in debris about 8:20 AM as the torrential rain brought the five houses down. The child later died after emergency treatment failed, the city's flood-control headquarters said.

More than 300 houses had collapsed, and 16,200 hectares of farmland were inundated. The city's airport was closed and 56 roads were cut off by rainstorms.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast that violent rainstorms would come along with Morakot to hit southern parts of Jiangsu, southeastern areas in Anhui, northeastern areas of Jiangxi, Shanghai, most parts of Zhejiang and Fujian, and Taiwan, from Sunday night to Monday.

 

Rescuers pull a car out of water in rain in Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, on August 9, 2009. Typhoon "Morakot" slammed into Chinese provinces on the eastern coast on Sunday, causing casualties, destroying houses and inundating farmlands. [Xinhua]

People walk in heavy rain in Jiaojiang of Taizhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province, on August 9, 2009. Typhoon "Morakot" slammed into Chinese provinces on the eastern coast on Sunday, causing casualties, destroying houses and inundating farmlands. [Xinhua]