Natural disasters wipe out China’s population

Typhoon Haitang approaches China’s south-east, while a heavy storm in central China has already claimed lives of 8 people, reports Pravda.ru.

Storm rainfall and gales destroyed 1,500 households and broke power lines. The preliminary damage exceeded $15,000,000.

More than 800,000 people fled their homes along China's southeastern coast as Typhoon Haitang churned toward the mainland Tuesday after hammering Taiwan with heavy winds and rains and killing four people.

Falling rocks killed one man in southeastern Taiwan, two women drowned in the north of the island, and a fourth victim was swept away by water while fishing in central Taiwan, the Center for Disaster Response said. A fisherman was also reported missing, says the AP.

According to Taiwan News, more than a million households were left without electricity.

Many of the injured were hit by falling trees, billboards and broken glass, turned into projectiles by winds that gusted up to 230 kilometers per hour early on Monday morning. Others hurt were motorcyclists unable to navigate in the windy conditions.

Around 1,500 people in northern Taiwan were evacuated from remote mountainous villages by local governments and placed in temporary shelters, said the National Fire Agency.

Meanwhile, a special task force set up by the Council of Agriculture in charge of land preservation issued serious warnings against landslides, mudslides and flash floods for areas along 176 streams in Hualian, Yilan, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Taichung counties. Some of the families living in these dangerous areas were evacuated to temporary shelters.