Torrential rains and landslides caused by typhoon Talim have claimed 44 lives and left nine others missing in east China's Anhui Province over the past four days, a provincial official said Sunday.

Rainstorms and heavy flows of mud and rock also destroyed 17,200 residential houses, damaged 61,100 houses and affected morethan 130,000 hectares of cropland in the province, according to the official with the Anhui Provincial Disaster Relief Office. The province evacuated 168,100 people to avoid typhoon Talim.

The provincial government has allocated 8 million yuan (986,440US dollars) of relief fund to affected areas. The provincial civilaffairs bureau distributed 400 tents and other relief materials toaffected people.

The provincial meteorological department forecast rainstorms inparts of Anhui Province Sunday.

Typhoon Talim pounded east China's Fujian Province Thursday afternoon with strong winds, forcing local schools, roads and airports to close.

According to the provincial observatory, Talim landed in the Putian region at 2:30 p.m., packing gusts at a speed of 126 kilometers per hour.

The provincial educational department issued an order earlier the day, the first day of China's new semester, to close schools at all levels in six coastal cities for two days to ensure students' safety.

Talim also forced several airports and highways to close in theprovince.

The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters relocated 479,000 people and organized disaster relief teams for emergencies.

Death toll in the disaster brought about by the typhoon Talim rose to 14 in Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province, Fujian's close neighbor, as of Friday night, said sources from the local Headquarters of Flood Control and Drought Relief.

According to preliminary statistics, a total of 2.22 million people in 335 townships of 18 counties have been affected in cities of Wenzhou and Lishui, both located in southern part of Zhejiang. Meanwhile, 11,789 houses were pulled down. The direct economic loss was put at 3.42 billion yuan (421.7 million US dollars), local government said.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has sent two work teams to directand supervise disaster relief operations in affected provinces.

Source: Xinhua