Hangzhou/Jinan: Typhoon Lekima has left 44 dead and 16 missing in two Chinese provinces, wreaking havoc there with torrential rains and strong gales, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
By Monday morning, the death toll in Zhejiang Province has risen to 39 while nine others remained missing, said the Zhejiang provincial flood control headquarters.
The ninth and strongest typhoon of the year has affected 6.68 million residents in Zhejiang, among whom 1.26 million were evacuated. It damaged 234,000 hectares of crops, inflicting a direct economic loss of 24.22 billion yuan (about 3.4 billion US dollars).
Lekima landed at around 1:45 a.m. Saturday in the city of Wenling in Zhejiang. It made a second landing at 2050 hrs (local time). Sunday on the coast of Qingdao in Shandong Province.
In Shandong, it has left five people dead and seven missings, affecting 1.66 million people and forcing the relocation of 183,800 as of Monday morning, said the provincial emergency management department.
