Fengshen lashes Shenzhen, no injuries reported

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-6-25  |     ONLINE EDITION

A man walks in heavy rain today in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a red alert for rainstorms at 6am today as tropical storm Fengshen lashed the region. More in photo gallery

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FLOOD control authorities in Shenzhen said they haven't received any report of injuries or property damage caused by tropical storm Fengshen since it began lashing Guangdong Province early this morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

No delays were reported at Shenzhen Airport as of 9am, the report said.

The storm made landfall in Shenzhen at 5:30am with winds up to 83 kilometers per hour, according to the provincial meteorological station.

As of 8am, no casualties had been reported and authorities in Shenzhen said they will keep a close eye on the storm.

Rainfall at eight monitoring stations in Shenzhen reached as much as 38.2 millimeters as of 8am.

The Shenzhen meteorological station forecast up to 200 millimeters of rain today and tomorrow.

The city closed middle and primary schools, as did Hong Kong, which borders Shenzhen.

Heavy rain and strong winds have already hit central and southern parts of Guangdong.

The provincial weather station said the storm would continue to move north and lose strength.

More than 13,000 ships in Guangdong returned to harbor to take shelter from the storm.

Meanwhile, a flood prevention emergency response plan was activated today in Jiangxi Province. Heavy rain was forecast in the east and south today through Saturday.

The Jiangxi flood control headquarters dispatched two work teams to help with flood prevention.

The Central Meteorological Station forecast early today that heavy rain would sweep across Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Hunan.

From June 6 to 16, nine provinces had experienced torrential rain, leaving 63 people dead, 13 missing and 1.6 million people displaced, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The storm was downgraded from a typhoon. Hundreds were dead or missing in the Philippines after Typhoon Fengshen ripped through the archipelago on Friday afternoon.