The death toll from Saomai, the strongest typhoon to hit China in five decades, rose to 134 yesterday with at least 163 missing, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Fuding in Fujian Province had by last night reported 41 deaths, 1,350 injured, 107 missing, and losses of 2.5 billion yuan (US$312.5 million) since the typhoon hit on Friday afternoon, making it the hardest hit area in the province.

"When I heard the wind around 7 pm on Friday, I found the roof of my home was gone," Guo Yituo, a resident in Fuding, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

In nearby fishing town Shacheng more than 1,000 fishing boats are missing while half of the town's 8,000 houses were flattened, said Liao Tiansheng, head of the town.

In Baisheng Village of Fuding,"almost the whole village was flattened," said one local resident.

Among the affected buildings in Fuding, Ziguo Temple, a 1000-year-old Buddhist temple, was severely damaged on Friday.

Twenty wooden-structure buildings of considerable heritage value were almost completely destroyed, said Lei Chaorui, director of the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of Fuding.

Fujian Province has so far reported 25 deaths and 130 missing. More than 1.45 million people have been affected and 32,700 houses destroyed.

The typhoon also damaged 68,800 hectares of crops and shut 234 factories and mines, resulting in losses of 6.36 billion yuan (US$795 million).

Saomai, the eighth typhoon to hit China this year, slammed into Cangnan County of Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province at 5:25 pm on Thursday.

It was downgraded to a tropical depression by Friday and headed inland into Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.

East China's Jiangxi Province had reported two deaths and one missing as of Saturday. About 980,000 people were affected and 566 homes collapsed. The depression destroyed six small reservoirs and caused losses of 348 million yuan (US$43.5 million).

In Zhejiang at least 2.1 million people have been affected and 18,000 houses destroyed. The downpour swamped 56 provincial roads and national highways, causing losses of 4.89 billion yuan (US$611 million).

Emergency relief aid worth 1.68 million yuan (US$210,000) from the Red Cross Society of China reached affected residents in Wenzhou on Saturday.

The aid included 250 tents as well as medicine, clothes, food and sheets.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society of China has offered aid worth more than 800,000 yuan (US$100,000) to Fuding. More aid will arrive in badly-hit areas in the coming days.

Source: China Daily