BEIJING, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- More than 500,000 people were evacuated in eastern China ahead of Typhoon Fitow, which made landfall early Monday in Fujian province, authorities said.
The storm, packing winds up to 93 miles per hour, landed in Shacheng city just after 1 a.m. as the entire region remained under the highest alert warning, meteorologists said. Fitow was forecast to weaken quickly as it moved northwestward, but was expected to lash the region with up to 8 inches of rain through Monday morning.
The storm is the 23rd typhoon to hit China this year and comes days after Typhoon Usagi, which killed at least 25 people in southern Guangdong province.
Fitow caused power outages in numerous townships and counties Sunday night, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The report said a boy in Cangnan County was injured by flying glass debris and was receiving treatment.
Some houses on Naji Island were reported to have collapsed when hit by the by strong winds.
Authorities said they had evacuated about 574,000 people as of Sunday night and about 35,800 vessels had returned to harbor for shelter. In Fujian alone, about 177,000 people were moved to safer locations.
Authorities suspended bullet train services in several cities in Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces. Wenzhou Airport, a major facility in Zhejiang Province, canceled 27 flights Sunday, including flights to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
