Updates on Typhoon Rananim; Death Toll now 164.

[Cyclone Runner]

It is quite amazing that both killer storms Rananim and Charley hit on Friday the 13th. Now Tropical Storm Megi is threatening the same area of China.

BEIJING (Reuters)- The worst typhoon to hit China in seven years killed at least 164 people and another 24 were listed as missing, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

Typhoon Rananim, which made landfall in eastern Zhejiang province late on Thursday, forced 467,900 people to flee their homes and injured about 1,800 people, it said.

A spokesman with the provincial government said 109 of the victims had died when their houses collapsed.

The storm battered the rice-growing province with torrential rain and gale-force winds, knocked down more than 430,000 buildings and caused more than 16.4 billion yuan ($2 billion) in direct economic losses, Xinhua said.

A landslide in Yueqing killed 29 people and left 18 missing and feared dead, the agency and a local official said.

Officials and residents said the storm was the worst since 1997 when Typhoon Winnie struck the coast, killing nearly 250 people and causing 19.8 billion yuan.


Death toll from China typhoon rises to 147
BEIJING, Aug 16 (AFP) - The death toll from a devastating typhoon which wreaked havoc in large parts of eastern China's Zhejiang province last week has risen to at least 147 with dozens of people still missing, state media reported Monday.

According to the National Flood and Drought Control Office, at least 147 people were killed and another 40 still missing, Xinhua news agency reported.

Typhoon Rananim, one of the strongest to hit China in years, also ruined nearly 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) of farmland in the region, Xinhua said.

The storm made landfall last Thursday in Wenling city on Zhejiang's coast and left massive destruction in its wake.

Some 43,000 homes were destroyed, affecting some 9.8 million residents, the report said.

The agency did not specify whether the death toll included 26 people who were killed and 21 others who are still missing following a landslide in Zhejiang province's Yueqing City on Sunday.

Zhejiang has suffered an economic loss of 16.4 billion yuan (1.98 billion dollars) as a result of the powerful storm, it said.

Meanwhile, a rare tornado whipped through a suburb of China's largest city on Monday, injuring some nine people and knocking down powerlines.

The small tornado hit Shanghai's Jiading district, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) from the city's downtown area, at around 4:00 pm (0800 GMT), an official at the Shanghai Meteorological bureau told AFP.

No deaths were reported, the official said.

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Copyright (c) 2004 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 08/16/2004 09:30:04