The tropical storm that has been thrashing eastern Guangdong
Province this week caused a fishing vessel to capsize near
Nan'ao Island at about noon on Tuesday. Twenty-two fishermen remain
missing.
The search was still ongoing Wednesday evening and included
elements of the South China Sea Fleet and Marine Departments from
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Zhang Dejiang, Party secretary of Guangdong Province, and
Governor Huang Huahua have expressed their concern in the case.
Shantou Party Secretary Lin Musheng and Mayor Huang Zhiguang
arrived at the scene to oversee rescue operations on Wednesday.
But local fishermen fear the missing people might have died
after spending more than a day in the cold sea.
Another fishing boat sank off Huilai, a coastal county in
eastern Guangdong, leaving three fishermen missing on Tuesday
evening. A separate search and rescue operation was also ongoing as
of Wednesday evening.
The 11th tropical storm to hit China's coast this year slammed
into Guangdong at 11:10 AM on Tuesday. The cities of Shantou,
Chaozhou and Jieyang have been hardest hit, with numerous sections
of river and coastal dykes, as well as water conservation
facilities, destroyed. Many crop fields were flooded.
In Chaozhou City's Chao'an County, at least one person was
killed when a tornado struck at about noon on Wednesday. Seven
other residents were injured and more than 100 houses in four
villages were damaged or destroyed.
A total of 409 people from 93 families were left homeless.
The heavy rainfall that hit the provincial capital of Guangzhou
caused chaos in the city's busy downtown areas. Many streets in the
business districts were flooded.
The heavy rainfall also caused the water level in the Xijiang
River -- the main tributary of the Pearl River -- to rise over the
warning line on Wednesday, threatening the cities and counties
along its course. The Guangdong Provincial Anti-Flooding
Headquarters issued an emergency notice to urge cities and counties
along the Xijiang River to be prepared for floods.
The storm and unstable weather is expected to continue to affect
the southern Chinese province until the end of the week, according
to the Guangdong Province Meteorological Observatory.
The storm, however, has helped to ease the drought that left
Guangdong parched earlier this summer.
(China Daily July 29, 2004)