1 million evacuated as typhoon hits China

BEIJING — A typhoon slammed into China's eastern coast Sunday, forcing the evacuation of nearly a million people after earlier lashing Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.

Typhoon Morakot made landfall in Fujian province, carrying heavy rains and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, the China Meteorological Administration said. One death was reported Sunday.

Taiwan, meanwhile, was recovering after the storm dumped more than 80 inches (200 centimeters) of rain on some southern counties on Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.

Taiwan's Disaster Relief Center said a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday, and two men drowned in Pingtung and Tainan. It said 31 were missing and feared dead.

Nearly 1 million people were evacuated from China's eastern coastal provinces by early Sunday — more than 490,000 people in Zhejiang and 480,000 in neighboring Fujian. Authorities in Fujian called 48,000 boats back to harbor.

Thirty-nine flights from Wenzhou city in Zhejiang were canceled Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Village officials in Zhejiang rode bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to residents stranded by deep floods, Xinhua said.

Heavy rains before the typhoon made landfall destroyed five houses in the province, burying four adults and a 4-year-old boy in debris, Xinhua said. The child died after emergency treatment failed, it said.

People caught in the storm stumbled with flashlights as darkness enveloped the town of Beibi in Fujian, uprooting trees and inundating farmlands, Xinhua said. Farmers tried to catch fish that were swept off fish farms by rising waves.

Rescuers attempted to reach eight sailors on a cargo ship stranded after strong winds blew it onto a reef off Fujian, Xinhua reported.

Morakot, which means "emerald" in Thai, was expected to travel north at about six miles (10 kilometers) per hour and weaken in strength, the meteorological administration said. It said the storm would also bring strong winds and heavy rains to nearby areas, including Shanghai.