Typhoon Kaemi weakened into a tropical depression on Wednesday as it lashed southern China with heavy rains and strong winds, killing nine and forcing the evacuation of over half a million people. Two girls were killed in southern Guangdong province after their house collapsed under a landslide in the early hours of Wednesday.
"The family of six were buried. The two granddaughters aged nine and six died," the government in Wuhua county said on its Web site (www.wuhua.gov.cn). "Their two brothers and grandparents were injured." Seven other people died in eastern Jiangxi province and 19 others are missing, Xinhua news agency said, without providing further details.
And in Fujian province a levee collapsed after heavy rain, threatening the lives of more than 20,000 people in six villages, it added. Emergency repair work was underway.
More than 600,000 residents in the south-eastern coastal province of Fujian were evacuated as Kaemi made landfall there at typhoon strength on Tuesday, after injuring six people, causing floods and cutting off power in parts of Taiwan.
In Fujian and neighbouring Guangdong, boats were moored in ports as fishermen sought shelter from the storm, Xinhua news agency said. Dozens of flights in Fujian's capital Fuzhou and the main port city Xiamen were cancelled on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, downpours brought by Kaemi soaked large parts of Fujian, Guangdong and another four provinces in China's south and east. Rain is likely to continue for the next three days, the country's Central Meteorological Office said.
Authorities have warned of possible landslides and are closely watching already swollen dams and overflowing rivers, urging the relocation of those living near rocky mountain slopes and in valleys, Xinhua said.
Kaemi, meaning "ant" in Korean, had been expected to move north-west to hit the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui and financial hub Shanghai, which has ordered the reinforcing of billboards, electricity poles and scaffolding. But Kaemi's brunt had instead moved westward to bring heavy rain to Jiangxi province, northern Guangdong and the southern part of Hunan province, the Meteorological Office said.
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