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Typhoon Meranti death toll rises to 28

By AFP
18 September 2016   |   11:03 am
Heavy rains and winds up to 170 kilometres per hour (105 miles per hour) whipped eastern Fujian province late last week, flooding streets and knocking over trees, billboards and power lines.
A destroyed building is seen in Xiamen, in China's eastern Fujian province after Typhoon Meranti made landfall on September 15, 2016. Typhoon Meranti made landfall in Fujian early September 15, 2016, with winds up to 230kph, knocking out electricity in some areas and causing rail delays. STR / AFP

A destroyed building is seen in Xiamen, in China’s eastern Fujian province after Typhoon Meranti made landfall on September 15, 2016. Typhoon Meranti made landfall in Fujian early September 15, 2016, with winds up to 230kph, knocking out electricity in some areas and causing rail delays.<br />STR / AFP

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit China in nearly 70 years has reached 28, state news said Sunday, days after the storm crashed into the country’s coastline.

Heavy rains and winds up to 170 kilometres per hour (105 miles per hour) whipped eastern Fujian province late last week, flooding streets and knocking over trees, billboards and power lines.

The official Xinhua news agency described the storm as the world’s strongest typhoon this year and the worst to hit the region since records began in 1949.

Fifteen remain missing, Xinhua said, adding that Xiamen city’s transportation and power supply continued to be “spotty”.

More than 10,000 workers were clearing up debris from the storm which uprooted more than 3,000 trees and destroyed roads and walls, it said.

Flooding also destroyed an 871-year-old bridge that was protected heritage site in Yongchun county, Xinhua reported Friday.

The typhoon, which had earlier skirted the southern tip of Taiwan, made landfall in Xiamen early Thursday.

At one point more than 3.2 million homes had their electricity cut off and water supplies for many communities in Xiamen were disrupted, it added.

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