Typhoon Saomai Forces Evacuation Of More Than 1.5 M People
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Beijing, China (AHN) - Saomai, the strongest typhoon in past five decades, has forced the evacuation of more than 1.5 million people in China. State news agency Xinhua said at least two people were killed and 80 others were injured as the powerful storm packed with winds of more than 200km/h (124 mph) slammed south-east of China. The Chinese authorities have deployed 20,000 soldiers for rescue operations in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, where Typhoon Prapiroon had caused havoc last month. Saomai, Vietnamese name for the planet Venus, would be the eighth powerful storm to hit China during this year's unusually violent typhoon season starting July through October. China's state media citing government forecasters said Saomai is even stronger than the deadly typhoon Rananim which hit the nation in 2004. "Saomai... has outpaced forecasts and outrun the powerful Typhoon Rananim that claimed 164 lives in Zhejiang in August 2004," said Li Yuzhu, head of the Zhejiang provincial observatory. The typhoon has already brought heavy rain to Taiwan. It hammered Cangnan county on the mainland just south of the city of Wenzhou at 1725 (0925). Officials in the county have declared a state of emergency. Xinhua reported that some 1,000 homes had been destroyed, and electricity and communication networks were disrupted in Zhejiang province. The two people killed were in |
