A typhoon dumped up to 700 mm (28 ins) of rain on Taiwan on Monday before heading to China, killing one person, injuring five, causing widespread flooding and closing businesses and financial markets. Typhoon Fung-Wong, Chinese for phoenix, was expected to weaken into a tropical storm over the next 24 hours after it makes landfall in China late on Monday.
In the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, authorities evacuated more than 340,000 people and called back 12,875 fishing boats. Ferry services between China and Taiwan were suspended. State television showed heavy seas and pouring rain in a coastal part of Fujian, where some trees had been uprooted.
"The winds are very powerful in this typhoon, with heavy rain, and we must make sure we take preventative measures against flash floods and landslides," Xinhua news agency quoted local disaster relief official Xie Xingwang as saying.
Almost 50 flights at Fujian provincial capital Fuzhou's airport have been cancelled, the report added. In the northern Philippines, four people were killed and five were missing after Fung-Wong exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains over the weekend causing floods and landslides.
Hundreds of people were moved to temporary shelters due to swollen rivers, mudslides and damaged communications and power lines. Schools in 11 provinces, including the capital Manila, were also closed on Monday. At 0800 GMT, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau had the storm moving north-west at 20 kph in the Taiwan Strait, with sustained winds of 119 kph and gusts of up to 155 kph.
Fung-Wong is the second typhoon to hit Taiwan in the last two weeks. On July 18, typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people and caused extensive flooding, landslides and crop damage in the south and central part of the island.