The power of the fifth typhoon of the year, Kaemi, diminished to tropical low pressure at 5:00 AM on Wednesday in Pinghe County of east China's Fujian Province.

According to the provincial meteorological observatory the rainstorms resulting from Kaemi will continue for another few days in Fujian particularly in coastal areas and western Longyan City.

The observatory called for measures to be taken to prepare for possible mountain torrents, landslides, mud-rock flows and other weather related incidents in the province.

Earlier reports said Kaemi, meaning "ant" in Korean, made landfall at 11:45 PM on Monday at Taitung of Taiwan Island, entered the Taiwan Straits at around 4:00 AM on Tuesday and hit Jinjiang of Fujian at 3:50 PM the same day. The eye of the typhoon had a wind velocity of 33 meters per second when it hit the Chinese mainland.

By 3:30 PM on Tuesday prior to Kaemi's landfall approximately 643,900 people in Fujian had been safely evacuated along with 319,400 who'd been working at sea, according to the provincial flood control authorities.

The typhoon brought with it heavy rainfall of 50-105 millimeters on Tuesday hitting many counties and cities across the province. In the neighboring Guangdong Province all fishing vessels, 12,498 in total with around 46,000 crew on board, sheltered in harbors.

Heavy rain also swept east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Local governments have drafted emergency plans to deal with the typhoon.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2006)