Typhoon Fitow wreaked havoc as it slammed into the east coast of China on Monday. Thousands of people were evacuated as high weather alerts were sent out.
The storm, with 94 mile per hour winds, made landfall in Fujian province early on Monday. The land was hit with heavy rains and there were widespread blackouts across the area. The storm is expected to continue heading northwest but the National Meteorological Centre says it will weaken, AFP reports.
Some houses in Cangnan County of the Zhejiang province collapsed due to high winds. A boy was also injured by flying glass.
A red alert was issues by the National Meteorological Centre on Sunday. A red alert is the agency's highest warning. Due to the warning, 574,000 people were evacuated in Zhejiang while another 177,000 were displaced in Fujian.
It is not clear if there are any casualties but two port workers in Wenzhou are missing. It is believed they fell into the sea. Authorities have been ordered to check the safety of dams, reservoirs and chemical plants around the region.
Travel took a hit as bullet train services were suspended in many cities in Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces Sunday. Air travel was also impacted at 27 flights were cancelled at Wenzhou's airport.
A red alert was also issues by Chinese maritime authorities. They warned of storm tides and waves and urged local fisherman to return to port while local authorities were told to prepare harbor facilities and sea walls for very high tides. More than 35,000 boats returned to port in Zhejiang while 30,000 returned in Fujian.
Typhoon Fitow was named after a flower and is the 23rd storm to hit China this year. This storm comes just two weeks after Typhoon Usagi raged through the region, killing 25 in southern China.
Fitow also passed through the southern Okinawan island chain of Japan and caused several flight and ferry cancellation earlier this week.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
