The State Council has urged local governments to exert efforts in the relief work of typhoon Talim, and has allocated 182 million yuan (US$22.2 million) to the affected areas.

The fund, jointly allocated by ministries of finance, water resources, civil affairs and agriculture, includes 94 million yuan for helping people's living and 88 million yuan for disaster relief of severe flooding and agricultural production.

The State Council also required local authorities to ensure that affected people have sufficient food and clothes, clean drinking water, living place and health care.

Meanwhile, it urged departments of civil affairs, health and flood control to dispatch more teams to the affected regions to offer more help and guidance.

Governments at all levels must exert efforts to fight the disaster while keeping order and production, it said.

The State Council also warned that water levels at the Huaihe River, some branches of the Yangtze River and many reservoirs are still high, and mountain torrents, mudflows and landslides might happen at any time in some areas, therefore governments must keep alert and strengthen flood control.

Landing in Fujian Province on Sept. 1, typhoon Talim has swept four provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui and Hubei, bringing concentrated rainfall and geological disasters to some areas.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 95 people have been killed by Monday and 30 others missing. Direct economic losses reached 12.19 billion yuan (about US$1.5 billion).

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2005))