Gales, rain rock city as storm causes havoc

 
Armed police rescue residents from a massive flood in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, yesterday. Heavy rain brought by tropical storm Krosa left many parts of the scenic city under water.

THE remnants of Typhoon Krosa deluged eastern China yesterday, snarling transportation, cutting power and flooding roads and fields.

More than 160 millimeters of rain has fallen on Shanghai since the weekend, and late last night howling and chilly winds and heavy falls continued to hit the city as the mercury plunged to 17 degrees Celsius.

The switch from balmy temperatures was triggered by a cold front from the north hitting at the same time as Krosa.

And the forecast from the city weather bureau is for no relief today from the rain and wind. The maximum temperature is expected to be just 22 degrees and the minimum 17.

While Krosa was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm on Sunday, its fury was still felt in Shanghai with power outages and flooding.

About 30 flights to the United States, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong were delayed or canceled at Pudong International Airport.

City officials are not relaxing and are fully prepared in case the storm returns. The wind became stronger soon after midnight on Sunday at Wusong Port, near the mouth of the Yangtze River, and reached speeds of up to 115 kilometers an hour by noon yesterday, said Wang Jiqin, an official with the Wusong Maritime Safety Administration.

"We are on alert and ready in case the gales attack the city again in the next couple of days," Wang said.

A foreign sailor checking a ship's moorings at Wusong lost three fingers when heavy seas and wind pushed the vessel suddenly toward him. However, doctors are confident they can save the digits via microsurgery thanks to the quick response by emergency crews.

Krosa has affected more than 7.6 million people in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces after it drenched the mainland's southeast coast.

The storm prompted the evacuation of more than 1.41 million people in the two provinces.

Krosa has brought an average rainfall of more than 200mm over the past two days in Fujian and Zhejiang, destroying at least 3,500 houses and inundating parts of four counties, according to the flood control and drought relief headquarters of the two provinces.

It has caused 460 million yuan (US$61.3 million) in damage in Fujian, while Zhejiang reported losses of 7.5 billion yuan.

The storm also paralyzed transportation services, cut off power supplies, suspended schooling and tourist businesses in some areas.

A train was derailed by a mudslide between the cities of Wenzhou and Jinhua in Zhejiang, but its 600 passengers and crew escaped uninjured.

Some outdoor events for the Special Olympics in Shanghai had to be rescheduled.

The city government had relocated about 8,800 people, mainly workers, by Sunday night from coastal areas amid gale-force winds and torrential rain.

Taiwan wasn't so lucky, where Krosa left seven dead and 56 injured, in addition to cutting off power supplies and halting highway and air traffic.