(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-20 23:52

Twenty-eight people have died and 14 others are missing since Typhoon Sepat left a trail of destruction in east China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces on Sunday, local flood control headquarters reported on Monday.

The latest casualties are six farmers from Fujian's Lianjiang County, whose houses were destroyed by landslides in the early hours of Monday.

Typhoon Sepat left Fujian and swept northwest into east China's Jiangxi Province on Monday, leaving a trail of chaos in which landslides had killed a total of 15 people and left 11 missing in Fujian by 6 pm Monday.

Sepat landed in Fujian at 2:00 am Sunday and rainstorms continued on Monday. The ninth typhoon of the year has brought an average 200 mm of rainfall to most counties since last Friday. The worst-hit county of Jiaocheng received 490 mm.

Sepat has also caused 13 deaths and three missing in Wenzhou, a manufacturing center in Zhejiang, including 11 deaths from a tornado that smashed 156 houses on Saturday night.

On Sunday, a landslide triggered by the downpours hit a minibus in Wenzhou, killing one of its 19 passengers. One woman was found dead in the debris of her house the same day.

Jiangxi, where Sepat entered at 2:30 am Monday, is suffering torrential rains and high winds. By 8:00 am, the worst-hit county of Yongfeng had received 327 mm of rain.

The local meteorological bureau predicts Sepat will linger in the province for another 48 hours.