Fengshen brings more wet misery to China

Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily  |   2008-6-26  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

People brave winds and heavy rain in a flooded downtown area of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province as tropical storm Fengshen hit southern China yesterday morning. More in photo gallery

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TROPICAL storm Fengshen brought another bout of wet misery to southern China yesterday with heavy rains and strong winds after killing hundreds in the Philippines.

China's southeast was still recovering from flooding earlier this month that killed at least 63 people, forced the evacuation of at least 1.66 million and caused billions of dollars in damage in a region anchored by the country's manufacturing capital, the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province.

Fengshen made landfall yesterday morning with winds of up to 83 kilometers per hour in the economic boomtown of Shenzhen, with meteorologists predicting up to 200 millimeters of rain for yesterday and today.

One crewman was missing and another was injured after they fell into the sea from a container ship that was making an emergency stop off Guangdong to wait out the storm. The missing crewman reportedly had no life jacket.

Heavy rain and gales had already hit central and southern parts of the province, the Guangdong meteorological station said. The storm would continue to move north at a speed of 15km/h and lose strength.

More than 13,000 ships in Guangdong returned to harbor before the storm hit.

Within an hour of landfall, monitoring stations in Shenzhen had reported rainfalls of up to 38 millimeters.

Middle and primary schools in Shenzhen have suspended classes.

By 5pm continuous rainstorms had delayed 121 flights and cancelled another 14 at Shenzhen airport. Shipping from the Fuyong Dock, which links the airport to Hong Kong and Macao, was also cancelled.

The Hong Kong government closed all schools, courts and financial markets in the morning after a weather alert was issued late on Tuesday.

The storm injured at least 17 people and flooded 38 areas across Hong Kong, the government said in a statement.