BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 14 people were killed and nine others were missing in China by Monday noon after Khanun, the No. 15 typhoon of this year, slammed into the Chinese mainland Sunday.

    The typhoon, which is described as the strongest that hit the country this year, also left nearly 5.5 million people and 2.25 million hectares of cropland affected in Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and Shanghai, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief headquarters.

    Premier Wen Jiabao and vice premier Hui Liangyu urged Tuesday the governments in the typhoon-affected areas to make timely weather forecast and full preparations against Khanun.

    More than 1.35 million people have been evacuated to safe places and some schools and kindergartens in Shanghai and Anhui were ordered to close on Tuesday, according to the headquarters.

    The typhoon, which slammed into Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province at 14:50 p.m. Sunday, had churned through the province and neighboring municipality of Shanghai by Tuesday noon, moving northwestward at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour.

    Khanun has brought strong wind and rainstorms as well as serious damages to the Chinese mainland. In the most-hit province of Zhejiang, the total economic losses caused by the typhoon was estimated at 6.89 billion yuan (849 million US dollars), said officials of the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

    As of Monday noon, typhoon Khanun battered the cities of Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo and Jinhua and strong winds and rainstorms inflicted by the tropical storm flattened 7,468 houses,damaged many water conservancy facilities and cropland, according to the provincial government.

    In the metropolis of Shanghai, six-hour-long rainstorm since Sunday night had brought the city a precipitation of 177 millimeters with more than 1,000 families and 30 roads in the city flooded. No casualty was reported, according to the municipal government.

    The municipal government had evacuated more than 160,000 residents in less than 12 hours and more than 400 fights were thus canceled in the poking and Hongqiao Airports. Enditem