Tropical Storm Krosa back to sea, but rains continue

HANGZHOU—Tropical Storm Krosa, which has forced more than 1.41 million people away from their homes on the Chinese mainland, returned to the East China Sea on Monday, leaving the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Krosa re-entered the East China Sea at 5:30 p.m. from Sanmen County, according to the Zhejiang provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters. Krosa made landfall between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on Sunday afternoon as a typhoon, the 16th this year, but it quickly weakened to a tropical storm without causing casualties on the mainland.
However, more than 7.6 million people were affected, houses were destroyed, cropland and fish farms were flooded, schools and businesses closed and water facilities damaged as Krosa unleashed gale force winds and torrential rains through east China.
Krosa has brought an average precipitation of more than 200 mm over the past two days in Fujian and Zhejiang, destroying at least3,500 houses and inundating parts of four counties, according to the flood control and drought relief headquarters of the two provinces.
It has caused 460 million yuan in damage in Fujian, while Zhejiang reported losses of 7.5 billion yuan. The Fujian provincial government has allocated relief funds of 3.5 million yuan and prepared tents, quilts, rice and bottled water for people affected, according to the provincial civil affairs department.
Though away from center of the storm, in Shanghai, where the Special Olympics are taking place, the city government evacuated about 8,800 people, mainly workers, from coastal areas amid gales and torrential rains of up to 160 mm. Transport in eastern cities was seriously affected as airports, expressways and shipping services were shut down.
A train locomotive was derailed by a landslide on Monday noon in Qingtian County of Zhejiang Province, leaving no casualty, but closing the railway line from Jinhua City to Wenzhou City for almost 10 hours. In Shanghai, more than 40 flights were delayed and eight canceled at Pudong International Airport by 4:00 p.m. on Monday and 39 vessels had to rescheduled their arrivals or departures.
The provincial observatory of Zhejiang said the rain in Fujian and Zhejiang would last another two days. Krosa left five dead, three missing and 67 injured in Taiwan, in addition to cutting off power supplies and halting highway and air traffic, according to Taiwan media reports. (One U.S. dollar equals 7.51 yuan)
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has ordered relevant government departments to strengthen safety inspections and put public safety “first and foremost” when facing Typhoon Krosa.
Krosa, which formed on Oct. 2 and escalated to a powerful typhoon on Oct. 5, finally made landfall in east China on Sunday afternoon. It had a “strange route” and widespread impact, according to a government release.
It continued to move northward at a speed of 20 km per hour after making landfall, but its force gradually weakened, the Fujian Provincial Meteorological Observatory said.—Xinhua