Three high school students are paying particular close attention to the arrival of Typhoon Chanchu.

The typhoon was expected to hit south China today.

And it will give the trio, from Zhejiang Province in east China, the chance to further boost their knowledge about the tropical storms.

Yan Feng is one of the three students in the city of Taizhou whose studies into typhoons earned them first prize in the Zhejiang Youth Science Competition last month.

The other two are Yao Yiyuan and Ruan Qiaoling.

The trio, from First High School, devoted much of their spare time into researching the effect of typhoons on homes in rural areas outside the city.

Their research highlighted the reasons certain houses collapsed in the tropical storms. They also submitted proposals to local government to regulate the construction of substandard buildings in rural areas.

After winning the competition, they will now attend the China Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Contest in August in Macao.

Taizhou is one of the cities in China worst hit by typhoons.

Among six typhoons that hit the Chinese mainland last year, two affected Taizhou.

Yan first began to pay attention to typhoons when Typhoon Rananim hit her city in August 2004.

It was the strongest typhoon to strike the province since 1956. Nearly 210,000 houses were damaged in Taizhou alone. Yan was stunned to discover the roof of the school's newly-built gymnasium was ripped off.

Yan then began to collect data about the impact of typhoons on rural houses.

After collecting related information from books, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, Yan and her two classmates led a group of 11 students to study properties in the rural areas.

"We talked to local villagers and took pictures of houses that had collapsed or been seriously damaged by past typhoons," Yan said, adding that dozens of questionnaires were also given to locals.

"Though none of the villagers knew us, they welcomed us and gave us help because of our good intentions to find out more about the safety of houses."

The research lasted for about six months. Students also visited officials and experts at the local meteorological observatory, construction bureau, and flood control headquarters.

Yao Yiyuan said many villages had little idea about the poor conditions of their houses and the consequences if another typhoon struck.

Some houses are built with low-quality materials and poor designs, Yao added.

"We hope the local government will now give advice to villagers to increase their safety awareness before house construction begins, and conduct house safety inspections at regular intervals and encourage farmers to take out house insurance," said Yao.

Local government chiefs have responded positively after the students e-mailed them a copy of their study.

"Your suggestion is of great value for decisions made by the government in the future," Li Yuecheng, vice-mayor of Taizhou, wrote in an e-mail reply.

(China Daily May 17, 2006)