Typhoon Lekima batters Shandong province

Five people were killed and seven were missing in China's Shandong province as of Monday noon, after Typhoon Lekima hit the province over the weekend, local authorities said.

Lekima, the ninth and strongest ever typhoon of the year, has affected a total of 1.66 million people, with nearly 183,800 having been relocated to safe places as of 5:50 am on Monday, according to the province's emergency management department.

The affected area covers 522 towns in 14 cities in the province, said the department.

Typhoon Lekima made its second landing at 8:50 pm on Sunday on the coast of Huangdao district, the coastal city of Qingdao, packing winds up to 82.8 km per hour, according to China Meteorological Administration.

The typhoon also damaged 175,400 hectares of farmland and collapsed 609 houses, said the Shandong department, which estimated the direct economic loss amounted to nearly 1.5 billion yuan ($212 million). The loss in agricultural sector reached 939 million yuan.

The province's Shouguang city, also called China's town of vegetables, was severely hit by rain. A video footage on the internet showed some vegetable greenhouses submerged in water on Sunday.

Lekima is expected to whirl through Shandong Peninsula and Laizhou Bay, turn northeast forward before weakening, according to a piece of latest news at close to 11 am from website of China Weather, which is run by China Meteorological Administration.

The website said the typhoon is expected to bring strong wind in coastal areas of Shandong Peninsula, Liaoning, Hebei and Tianjin. It will also bring torrential rain in parts of Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, Liaoning and Jilin.

The typhoon has been battering the eastern coastal provinces Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as Shanghai since Friday.

At least 38 people were killed and 10 were still missing in Zhejiang province as of 10 am on Monday, according to the province's flood control and drought relief headquarters.