At least 99 people were confirmed dead and 36 others missing in floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Talim in east China, latest reports said on Tuesday.
The typhoon, which brought torrential rainfall, severe landslides and mudflows to the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and Jiangxi in east China and Hubei in central China, has caused direct economic losses of about $1.5 billion, the ministry of civil affairs said.
In Anhui, one of the worst hit provinces, 63 people have been reported dead and 18 others missing. Economic losses caused by the typhoon have been placed at $420 million.
Casualties have been reported from seven cities in 27 counties by Tuesday, a spokesman with the provincial disaster relief official said. He added that 39,700 houses have collapsed and 117,300 others were damaged when heavy rain caused landslides and mud-row flows in the Dabieshan mountains, forcing at least 420,000 people to evacuate.
More than 25,000 officials and one million residents are working to fight the flood and keeping guard on local river embankments. The state flood control and drought relief headquarters also sent a team of specialists to the province on Sunday.
Talim, the 13th typhoon of the year, landed on the Chinese mainland from the coastal Fujian province last Thursday and brought heavy rain in the following four days to the three cities of Anqing, Liu'an and Chaohu, as it swept the hinterland Anhui province.
The downpour caused 47 of the province's 112 large and medium-sized reservoirs to swell above the danger line. In Yuexi county, rainfall has totalled 573 millimetres.
