Nanmadol affects trains, batters E. China province
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Xinhua, September 2, 2011
Bullet trains have been slowed or stopped as tropical storm Nanmadol continues to bring heavy rains and winds to east China's Fujian Province, local authorities said.
A mudslide triggered by heavy rains occurred at 6:25 a.m. Thursday near a section of railway connecting the city of Putian to Xianyou County. The affected section was repaired by 9 a.m., with speeds of passing bullet trains slowed to accommodate repairs, according to authorities from the Fuzhou Train Station.
As of 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Nanmadol's arrival has caused two deaths, left six missing, and forced the evacuations of 198,000 people in Fujian Province.
The storm has leveled more than 300 houses and damaged another 1,700 in Fujian with a direct economic loss of 130 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
One person was crushed to death after a house collapsed in Putian, according to the Fujian provincial flood control office.
Another person drowned, four went missing and two others were rescued in Putian after their speed boat capsized, office staff said.
About 514,000 people in the province have been affected by flooding, and 442 soldiers and 40 speed boats are involved in rescue operations.
In Zhejiang Province, which borders Fujian, torrential rains brought by Nanmadol disrupted the lives of 65,600 people. About 160 houses were toppled and 4,600 hectares of crops were damaged, causing a direct economic loss of 310 million yuan, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
By 8 a.m. Thursday, water levels at 40 large and mid-sized reservoirs had exceeded the flood alert level.
