Waves caused by Typhoon Damrey hit a dock as a resident walks by in Haikou, south China's Hainan province, September 25, 2005. (newsphoto)

HAIKOU, Sept. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Casualties have risen to nine as Typhoon Damrey swept China's southernmost island province of Hainan Monday.

    The provincial anti-disaster command center said typhoon caused blackout and difficulties in communications on the island. Nine people in five cities were confirmed dead. Six out of the nine victims were above the age of 60.

    Damrey has ravaged the island for 15 hours. It is moving northwestward to the mainland through the Beibu Bay.

    The province has made all possible efforts to relocate residents away from dangerous sites before the typhoon came on Sunday, so as to reduce the casualty as low as possible.

    Wang Yixin, deputy secretary general of the Hainan Provincial Government told Xinhua that so far, power system in nine cities on the island were out of work. Major power grid could be fixed in two to three days. However, the whole power network would take about a month to repair. Enditem