As the threat from Typhoon Haitang abated Wednesday, the issue of sheltering from the storm was replaced by dealing with the resulting floods, preventing disease and repairing damage.

Some of the 863,000 people in East China's Zhejiang and Fujian provinces who had fled began to return home Wednesday after the once-howling typhoon limped into neighbouring Jiangxi Province.

Two emergency teams arrived in Wenzhou and Lishui, two of the worst-hit areas, to combat disease, according to officials from the Provincial Bureau of Public Health.

"The floods brought by the heavy rain make disease prevention in the aftermath extremely important," said Yan Dehua, director of the Emergency Division of the Zhejiang Bureau of Public Health.

Tons of bleach and disinfectant were delivered to local residents, Yan added.

Necessities for everyday life including more than 16,000 boxes of biscuits and instant noodles, 750 tons of cooking oil and 7,300 tons of rice were also sent to Wenzhou and Taizhou, according to reports from local civil affairs bureaux.

Returning residents could be comforted somewhat knowing that the damage could have been worse; Haitang was considerably weaker when it pounded the mainland on Tuesday than when it lashed Taiwan on Monday. By Wednesday, it had killed three in East China's Zhejiang Province and 10 in Taiwan.

Huge damage

Nevertheless, losses reported in Fujian were devastating: 21 injured and direct economic losses of 2.63 billion yuan (US$317.6 million) including damage to 17,700 houses, the province's disaster relief authorities said.

In Zhejiang, the bill for damage had reached at least 5.46 billion yuan (US$657.8 million) Wednesday. Officials said casualty figures were still being calculated.

Provincial officials said 5,710 homes were destroyed, 183,220 hectares of farmland ruined, 62,769 factories stopped operations and 447 highways were cut off.

For some, though, the danger had not ended. About 700 people in the town of Shuitou in Wenzhou city were still trapped in their homes Wednesday afternoon, and rescue operations continued into the night, according to officials from the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Although most of those trapped were not in imminent danger, the main concern was that flooding made the delivery of vital provisions difficult, according to Yao Yuewei, a senior officer in charge of local flood control and drought relief.

Teams of technicians were trying to restore Wenzhou's power and communications. Power was expected to be back to normal by tomorrow, a local utility spokesman said.

Yao said threats to public safety in the devastated areas still existed. "In the coming days special attention should be paid to floods, landslides, rock falls and rising water levels caused by the torrential rain," he said.

The safe landing of Air China Flight 1539 from Beijing at Wenzhou Airport at 11:30 am marked the end of Haitang's threat to the aviation sector in the two provinces.

"Despite heavy rains, flights in the region resumed normal operations this morning," said Jiang Yao, information officer with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China's (CAAC) East China Bureau, in a telephone interview.

Jiang said more than 110 flights had been cancelled at Changle International Airport in Fuzhou, Fujian's capital, in the previous two days, but normal operations resumed Wednesday morning.

As other provinces were focussing on the clean-up operation, Jiangxi has been dealing with Haitang's remnants.

Heavy rain and strong winds have swept 35 central counties in the province since Tuesday, although officials report that no transport has been cancelled or delayed at passenger terminals in Nanchang, Jiangxi's capital, which has 160 scheduled services linking it with cities within and outside the province.

The provincial weather bureau's forecast says heavy rain will continue until as late as Saturday.

Source: China Daily