BEIJING, Aug. 8 -- Typhoon Matsa killed seven people and caused several billion yuan in losses as it ravaged through East China's coastal area over the weekend.

    The ninth typhoon to hit the country this year downgraded into a tropical storm after wreaking havoc in Zhejiang Province for 18 hours and leaving for the neighbouring Anhui Province late on Saturday night, according to the National Meteorological Centre. The centre of the storm moved further north into Jiangsu Province yesterday.

    Zhejiang was the hardest hit, with two people killed, two reported missing and damages amounting to 6.56 billion yuan (US$809 million), according to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

    Matsa landed on the province's Ganjiang township before dawn on Saturday. It packed winds of up to 160 kph as it moved northwest and dumped torrential rain in most areas of the province, including the provincial capital Hangzhou.

    More than 8.4 million people and 200,500 hectares of farmland were affected, and 13,108 houses damaged, according to the headquarters.

    "Casualties could have been even bigger without the timely evacuation of local residents," said Yao Yuewei, deputy director of the headquarters.

    More than 1.24 million residents were evacuated to safety before the arrival of the typhoon, Yao added.

    The provincial government has set aside 36 million yuan (US$4.44 million) for disaster relief.

    In Shipu township of Ningbo, the streets were chaotic, with debris everywhere and shop signs blown down on Saturday afternoon, when the storm was reduced to drizzle. Several wire poles were knocked down, some broken into pieces.

    "Thirty-four power arteries in the county have been cut by the storm since Friday night," a local rescue worker told China Daily.

    In Ningbo's Beilun District, the storm tore open the roof of a gymnasium where matches for the Women's Volleyball World Championship Asia Qualifying Tournament were being held. The organizers were forced to choose another venue for the remaining matches.

    In Shanghai, which was about 300 kilometres north of the storm centre, four were killed and two injured. Among them, two died from electric shocks yesterday morning when using water-soaked appliances.

    The city's two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong, were closed, and most international flights were cancelled until 4 am yesterday. The nearly 30-hour closure of the airports affected 1,000 flights.

    The storm brought the heaviest rain in nine years, with the average rainfall above 150 millimetres.

    The mass-transit Line One metro suspended service for more than 4 hours yesterday morning as rainwater ran into it.

    In Anhui, one person died and 763,000 people were affected, Xinhua reported.

    (Source: China Daily)