At Least 25 People Dead After Typhoon Tears Through Eastern China

Typhoon Winnie whipped through eastern China, unleashing deadly winds and torrential rains that caused the deaths of at least 25 people, official reports said today.

The toll of casualties and damage was expected to rise as data was gathered from outlying areas, local officials said.

Winnie swept through eastern Zhejiang, killing 19, before moving on to neighboring Anhui province, where it dumped torrential rains before gradually dissipating, the newspaper China Daily said.

The report did not provide details on how the 19 Zhejiang residents had been killed. Separate reports Tuesday indicated six typhoon-related deaths in various cities in the region.

The typhoon interrupted airline and ferry services, cut power supplies and flooded 20,600 Zhejiang homes, China Daily reported.

In Taiwan, the typhoon caused landslides that contributed to the deaths of 28 people. Rescuers on Tuesday continued to search for 12 people believed trapped in an apartment building that collapsed as it slid down the side of a mountain and partially sank into waterlogged ground.

Rescuers had recovered 16 bodies. The collapse injured at least 46 people and seriously damaged about 50 apartments, authorities said. At least 12 others were confirmed killed by landslides, drowning or other causes.

The typhoon brought winds of up to 92 mph and dropped up to 28 inches of rain on northern Taiwan between Sunday and midday Monday, the Central Weather Bureau said. Powerful waves breached coastal dikes and flooded 34 towns around the city of Wenling in Zhejiang province, forcing some 30,000 people from their homes, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said. It said a total of about 1 million people had been moved out of coastal areas before the typhoon.