Death toll from Saomai rises to 214 in China

    FUZHOU, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from typhoon Saomai had risen to 214 by Monday morning, with another 56 bodies discovered in Fuding city in east China's Fujian Province.

Death toll from Saomai rises to 134, at least 163 still missing

    FUDING, Fujian Province, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty people who were listed as missing have been confirmed dead after Typhoon Saomai hit Fuding city of east China's Fujian Province. The confirmed death toll from the killer typhoon reached 134 on Sunday night.

1,146-year-old temple destroyed by typhoon Saomai

    FUDING, Fujian, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- A 1,146-year-old temple in east China's Fujian Province has been destroyed by typhoon Saomai, collapsing its gate house and more than 20 other buildings.

Death toll from typhoon Saomai rises to 105

    BEIJING, August 13 -- The death toll from Typhoon Saomai, the strongest to hit China in half a century, has risen to a hundred and five. At least a hundred and ninety others are missing.

Saomai kills 104, causing huge losses

    BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to strike China in 50 years, weakened to a tropical depression on Friday as it moved inland after killing at least 104 people, blacking out cities and wrecking more than 50,000 houses.

Saomai causes casualties, drought raises drinking water concerns

    BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Typhoon Saomai, the strongest to hit China in half a century and now a tropical depression, has risen to 104, with at least 190 others missing, say local authorities.

Typhoon Saomai makes landfall in east China

Residents walk in strong wind and heavy rain on a street in Fuding, a city in southeast China's Fujian Province, Aug. 10, 2006. Typhoon Saomai, the eighth to hit China this year, landed in neighboring Zhejiang Province late Thursday.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Saomai, the eighth to hit China this year, made landfall in Cangnan County, east China's Zhejiang Province, at 5:25 p.m. Thursday, said the provincial meteorological observatory.

    The eye of the typhoon had a wind velocity of 216 km per hour when it landed, said the observatory. "It is the strongest typhoonlanded in southeast China in the past 50 years," said Xi Jinping, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Over 570,000 evacuated as Saomai approaches

    HANGZHOU, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 571,376 people in China -- 305,376 in Zhejiang and 266,000 in Fujian -- have been evacuated, from the path of Typhoon Saomai, which has upgraded to extremely powerful.

    Meteorologists said Saomai, the eighth storm to hit China this year, would probably hit the Chinese mainland between Xiapu County of Fujian and Yueqing Bay of Zhejiang on Thursday noon or evening.

East China braces for typhoon Saomai

    BEIJING, Aug. 10 -- This year's latest typhoon is expected to blow into East China this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

    The Central Meteorological Observatory (CMO) yesterday predicted Typhoon Saomai will make landfall in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.

Zhejiang gives warning against violent typhoon Saomai

    HANGZHOU, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The observatory of east China's Zhejiang Province issued an emergent warning, urging local people to get fully prepared for the approach of Typhoon Saomai, which turned into a violent typhoon by 18:00 p.m. Wednesday.

    Some meteorologists from the observatory said that the typhoon might grow stronger.