Power restored in storm-hit Anhui

HEFEI - Power supplies have been restored for 962,000 households in East China's Anhui province, which has been slashed by rainstorms and floods triggered by Typhoon Haikui, local authorities said Saturday.

Anhui was hit hard by Haikui, the 11th typhoon of the year. The storm has left six people dead in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, as well as the city of Shanghai, since making landfall on Wednesday morning.

The storm has destroyed 1,556 houses, damaged 80,000 hectares of farmland and forced 163,000 people to relocate in Anhui. Direct economic losses are believed to be 880 million yuan ($138 million).

Workers are repairing roads and power lines that were damaged in the storm, according to the province's flood control headquarters.

Haikui, which means "sea anemone" in Chinese, is the third typhoon to wallop China's eastern coast in a week after storms Saola and Damrey hit the region over the weekend.

The storm has brought gales and heavy downpours to the region. In Zhejiang, where Haikui made landfall, torrential rains caused a reservoir dam to collapse, killing 11 people in an ensuing flood.

More than 2.17 million people have been evacuated in four provincial-level regions in East China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

Meteorological authorities in Anhui said Haikui has been downgraded to a tropical depression in the province but warned of additional geological disasters.