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September 19, 2016

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Xiamen counts the cost after Meranti sweeps through city

THE city of Xiamen in southeast China’s coastal Fujian Province is picking up the pieces after Typhoon Meranti passed through last Thursday.

Yesterday, the city government announced primary schools and kindergartens as well as private schools would be closed for two or three days, as power supply and the transport network are both still patchy.

The storm brought by Meranti killed at least 28 people and 15 others are still missing in China’s mainland and Taiwan.

It cut power to more than a million homes.

Ahead of landfall, Meranti drew a “red alert” in China’s warning system for severe weather that ranks red as most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Meranti has since caused over 16.9 billion yuan (US$2.53 billion) of damage, authorities said.

The world’s strongest typhoon this year is the strongest to hit Fujian since records began in 1949. It brought heavy rain and gales of up to 48 meters per second when it made landfall on the first day of China’s three-day holiday marking the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Yesterday was the first work day after the holiday. The city’s education authority said that the school closures would help lessen traffic pressure, while many soldiers, teachers and students’ parents are still taking part in relief efforts.

The city’s power grid said the typhoon had disrupted power supplies to 620,000 households. So far, 70 percent of the grid is back to normal.

The typhoon also damaged more than 90 percent of the city’s urban green areas.

More than 10,000 workers are busy clearing the roads of debris and plants.

Wang Weijun, deputy head of Xiamen Bureau of Parks and Woods, said that the debris had been holding up traffic.

“It will take around three days to clean up this mess,” Wang said.

Xiamen’s famous resort island of Gulangyu has remained closed since last Friday and all ferries between the island and the port in Xiamen have been canceled.

The island’s management committee said that more than 3,000 trees were uprooted by the typhoon, and 20 sections of road and 15 walls were damaged.

China is bracing for its second typhoon in a week after the government raised its alert to “orange” for Typhoon Malakas on Saturday.

Support teams have been sent to Zhejiang and Fujian provinces to prepare aid and relief.

In Taiwan, Malakas has prompted schools and companies to close and disrupted flights and train services.

However, no damage or casualties have been reported so far.

Typhoons are common at this time of year, picking up strength as they cross warm Pacific waters, and bringing fierce winds and rain when they reach land.




 

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