Typhoon Rammasun death toll hits 33 in China

The death toll from super typhoon Rammasun has increased to 33, latest statistics showed on Monday.

Rammasun, the strongest typhoon to hit south China in four decades, packed gales, downpours and floods to a number of southern provinces, affecting more than 8 million people in Hainan, Guangdong, Yunnan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Thirteen deaths have been reported in south China's Hainan, nine in Guangxi and 11 in neighboring Yunnan, according to central and local government figures.

A total of 608,000 people have been resettled and over 240,000 are in urgent need of basic necessities.

In Hainan, where Rammasun made landfall Friday afternoon, more than 3.25 million people in 216 townships have been affected. The province has recorded direct economic losses of over 10.8 billion yuan (1.7 billion US dollars), according to the provincial disaster relief department.

The disaster also triggered rising food prices in Hainan. Prices of some vegetables rose by around 30 percent and the cost of some meat more than doubled.

A second batch of disaster relief supplies from the Red Cross Society of China arrived in the provincial capital of Haikou on Monday. Four hundred family emergency kits will be distributed to disaster-hit areas on Tuesday.

Huang Jie, an official with the Red Cross Society of Hainan, said the organization plans to send 2,500 family emergency kits and 5,000 jackets to the province. Seven hundred kits have arrived so far.

The Red Cross in Hainan has also been delivering tents, rice and bedding to affected areas.

In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, many coastal cities are flooded and 1.63 million households have been affected by a power cut.

The China Southern Power Grid has organized 25 emergency repair teams and allocated power supply equipment including telegraph poles, wires and transformers to resume supply in places such as hospitals and water plants.

The aquaculture industry in the region is seriously damaged. Many fishermen are busy repairing their fishing boats.

Chen Wu, chairman of the Guangxi regional government, said authorities of all levels should provide financial aid and technical support to aquaculture farmers who are suffering severe losses.

The Red Cross in Guangxi has allocated 560,000 yuan of relief materials to typhoon-hit areas.

"We are visiting every household to evaluate their losses in order to ensure the most needy people get their share of relief materials in time," said Zhao Liansheng, a disaster relief volunteer with the Red Cross in Guangxi.

Despite no deaths so far, Guangdong Province has suffered worst economically, with losses amounting to more than 12.7 billion yuan.

In Xuwen County, the southernmost tip of the Chinese mainland where the typhoon made a second landfall on Friday night, 7,800 homes toppled and 46,000 others were badly damaged.

Li Fei, 84, was persuaded to get out of his 40-year-old hut and take temporary lodging at a local temple on Thursday. "I was reluctant to leave, but the officials insisted I should go," said Li. "Had I not followed their advice, I'd have died."

The local civil affairs bureau said 100,000 residents were resettled on the eve of the typhoon's landfall to prevent fatalities.

Li is still living at the temple and his relatives who live in the same neighborhood provide him with three meals a day.

He has received 500 yuan of allowance from the local government to meet his basic needs, but to rebuild his home will cost at least 30,000 yuan. "I don't know where to get the money."

Typhoon Rammasun incurs huge economic losses in China

Direct economic losses caused by super typhoon Rammasun amounted to 26.55 billion yuan ($4.32 billion) in south China, official figures showed on Sunday.

The strongest typhoon in four decades has ravaged 468,500 hectares of crops and destroyed 37,000 homes in Hainan Province, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. >>>