Deadly typhoon hits China after raking Taiwan

Typhoon Megi slammed into China's southeastern coast Wednesday morning after raking Taiwan with 100 mph (162 kmph) winds and drenching rains that left four people dead and hundreds injured.

Chinese authorities, anticipating the storm, had evacuated more than 120,000 people from Fujian province. Nearly 32,000 fishing boats were recalled to port and dozens of flights were cancelled.

Up to 16 inches (400 mm) of rain is expected to lash Fujian and neighboring Guangdong province.

Megi dumped more than 12 inches of rain as it whistled across Taiwan, the small island nation 180 kilometers east of China. Mountains in the south and east of the island were hardest hit by the storm, which is 310 miles (500km) in diameter.

Among the dead in Taiwan, three people suffered fatal falls and a fourth person died in a truck crash, according to Lee Wei-sen, a spokesman for Taiwan's Central Emergency Operations Center. In all, more than 520 people were injured, many after being hit by wind-blown objects.

Millions in the dark in Taiwan

Nearly three million households lost power during the height of the storm in Taiwan, but electricity was restored to nearly one million of them by late Tuesday night, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without water in Taiwan. Schools and offices were closed across the country, and most of the railway network was shut down.

Typhoons are typical at this time of year, gathering strength as they crawl across warm Pacific waters, eventually bringing howling winds and rain when they make landfall.

Travel alerts were posted, with warnings given of likely landslides and flooding.

Lee Wei-sen, a spokesman for Taiwan's Central Emergency Operations Center said the storm's one saving grace was that it didn't pass slowly. "The only good news," he said, "is that it's moving fast."

bik/jm (AP, Reuters)