China - Typhoon Winnie
DHA-Geneva Situation Report No. 1
1. Through the UNDP/DHA Resident Representative
, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reports that Typhoon Winnie made landfall
in China, Zhejiang Province, at 21.30 hours (local time) on 18 August
1997. It gave rise to rainfall over 200 mm. The typhoon arrived
at the time when there was high tide. From the mouth of the Qiantang River
to Jiaojiang and Haimen, the tide reached the highest level in
history. The sea embankment at Taizhou City was destroyed and sea water
submerged large stretch of farmland. The sea embankment at Wenzhou,
Ningbo and Zhoushan were also severely damaged, part of the areas were
inundated.
2. According to the initial statistics,12 million people in 60 counties and cities in the province were affected of whom 1.45 million people in 2,383 villages were surrounded by water. 0.99 million people were evacuated, 19 dead. The direct economic loss is about 8.3 billion yuan RMB (approx. USD 1 billion).
3. The meteorological departments of the Chinese Government had made timely and accurate predictions before the arrival of the typhoon. The provincial government has dispatched officials to direct relief operations.
4. The Government has not requested DHA to launch an appeal for international assistance.
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