Typhoon lashes southeast China, killing 30

NINGDE, China - The strongest typhoon to strike China for half a century killed at least 30 people, with three others missing, the official Xinhua news agency said today as the typhoon weakened and moved inland.

Typhoon Saomai struck Cangnan County in eastern China's Zhejiang province after authorities relocated 1 million people in the densely populated commercial region, Xinhua said.

Xinhua reported two people were also killed in nearby Fuding in neighbouring Fujian province.

"Because transport and communications have been cut, the number and identity of the dead and missing is still being established," the agency said.

Earlier, Xinhua reported that 1000 houses were blown over in Cangnan and 80 people were injured. Neighbouring Fujian province moved 620,000 people but reported no deaths so far.

The typhoon landed with winds of 216 km per hour -- more powerful than a typhoon that hit Zhejiang in August 1956, triggering a storm surge that killed more than 3000 people, Xinhua said.

Saomai was the eighth storm to hit China this year, Xinhua said.

Tropical Storm Risk had graded Saomai a maximum-category 5 "super" typhoon, but reduced that to category 4 as it made landfall, the same category as Hurricane Katrina which devastated the US Gulf coast last year.

The greater Wenzhou area, which includes Cangnan and is home to 7.4 million people, has declared a state of emergency and authorities blocked highways into the worst-affected areas, including the road from nearby Ningde in Fujian province.

In Ningde, skies were clearing and winds easing by early Friday, as residents swept away debris.

The typhoon is moving towards Jiangxi province, which was bracing for heavy storms, the China Meteorological Administration said on its website earlier today.

- REUTERS