NINGDE, China - The strongest typhoon to strike China for half a century killed at least 28 people, with three others missing, the official Xinhua news agency said early on
Typhoon Saomai struck Cangnan County in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Thursday, with province authorities relocating 1 million people as the densely populated commercial region braced for the lashing winds and rains, Xinhua said.
Earlier, Xinhua reported that 1,000 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 a wind velocity of 216 km (135 mph) per hour, and was more powerful than a typhoon that hit Zhejiang in August 1956 and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 3,000, Xinhua said.
Story by Ben Blanchard
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
