Typhoon Haitang strikes China

BEIJING: Over 2 lakh people have been evacuated after Typhoon Haitang struck China's eastern Fujian Province with incessant rain battering different parts of the region.

Typhoon Haitang, the 10th typhoon this year, made landfall at 4.40 pm yesterday in Pingtung on the island of Taiwan, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Wind hit with a maximum speed of 18 meters per second, the tropical cyclone followed Typhoon Nesat which landed in the same city at 6 am yesterday, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.

The two typhoons brought heavy rainstorms to the province, with rainfall exceeding 50 mm in 64 counties, cities or districts over the past 24 hours.

Maximum rainfall reached 172.4 mm at Yunshan Village of Yongtai County, said the provincial flood control and disaster relief headquarters in a statement.

So far 2.16 lakh people had been evacuated across the province, said the statement, the report said.