CHINA DAILY SATURDAY, AUGUST 04, 2012 weekend • china 15 Typhoons 9 killed on Hebei hammer railway bridge eastern By CHEN XIN [email protected] A freight train hit and killed nine people at the Funing section of the provinces Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway in North China’s Hebei province on Friday By JIN ZHU in Beijing lapse before my eyes,”said Shen morning, the Ministry of and SUN LI in Fuzhou Kaixuan, from Jufeng township Railways said. of Rizhao, 347 kilometers away The accident happened More than 2 million residents from Jinan, the capital of Shan- at 5:28 am, and four other in East China’s coastal regions dong province. people were injured, a min- were aff ected by two typhoons Th e 21-year-old student told istry statement said. on Friday, and one person died China Daily on Friday that he The injured have been in Shandong province, even went to bed as usual on Th urs- sent to hospitals for emer- as the tempests weakened to day night because the rain was gency treatment and their tropical storms after making not very heavy. SI WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY lives were out of danger as landfall. Since Wednesday, fi ve people A woman picks up her belongings from the debris of a makeshift house destroyed in a typhoon in Ganyu, Jiangsu province, on Friday. of 4 pm, according to a state- As of 10 am on Friday, Saola in Taiwan have died, two remain Typhoon Damrey made landfall in the province late on Thursday night, bringing heavy rains and gales, and causing damages. ment from the Qinhuang- and Damrey had forced the missing and more than 16 have dao municipal government. evacuation of about 124,000 suffered injuries because of RAINFALL FORECAST FOR 24 HOURS CAUSED BY er surnamed Chen with Fujian taxi driver, said on Friday. Th e ministry said torren- residents in Jiangsu province, Typhoon Saola, according to TYPHOON DAMREY AND TYPHOON SAOLA Comfort Travel Co. Meanwhile, the death toll tial rain destroyed paths near 180,000 in Shandong province, the island’s emergency opera- Trips to some coastal scenic from Beijing’s devastating their homes, so people from (8 pm Friday to 6 pm Saturday) 237,000 in Zhejiang province, tion center. spots have been canceled, Chen downpour on July 21 rose to 78 three villages had to walk and 173,000 in Fujian province, The Chinese mainland- said. aft er another body was discov- close to the railway tracks. according to the Ministry of based Association for Relations But Gulangyu, a popular ered, government authorities When they reached the Civil Aff airs. Across the Taiwan Straits sent Beijing tourist destination in Xiamen, said on Friday. Miwuhe railway bridge, they Th e two typhoons landed less a letter of condolence to the remained open on Friday aft er- The body of a 65-year-old were hit by a freight train. than 10 hours apart on Th urs- Taiwan-based Straits Exchange noon as the city was barely man from neighboring Hebei “Th e connection between day evening and Friday morn- Foundation on Friday over the affected, said an official with province was retrieved from a the villages and the outside ing, according to the National devastation wrought by the Gulangyu Management Com- pond near Dongguan village world had been cut off , so Meteorological Center. typhoon. mittee. of Fangshan district, accord- the villagers could only walk Th e storms brought torrential The letter said the ARATS The combined impact of ing to a statement issued by along the narrow paths on rain to Jiangsu and the south- was “deeply concerned” about Saola and Damrey will con- the Beijing municipal govern- the two sides of the railway ern coastal areas of Shandong the death and injuries as well as tinue to dump rain on Fujian, ment on its offi cial Sina Weibo bridge and that led to the early on Friday morning aft er property losses caused by the Heavy rain (0-49.9 mm) Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hebei, Liaon- micro blog, citing the city’s tragedy,” an unnamed local Damrey landed in Jiangsu at floods and mudslides on the Torrential rain (50-99.9 mm) ing, and Tianjin in the next two floods control and drought villager was quoted as saying about 9:30 pm on Th ursday, the island, and it asked SEF to con- Downpour (100- 250mm) days, with the highest rainfall relief offi ce. by Xinhua News Agency. center said. vey its “sincere sympathy” to reaching 300 mm in parts of Th e statement also said one “Some villagers were Similar weather hit Fujian relevant authorities and aff ected adding that observatories and heavy rainfall will lash more than coastal regions in Fujian and of the 11 unidentified bodies killed by the train and some and its neighboring provinces people, Xinhua News Agency hydrologic monitoring stations 10 provinces and municipalities Zhejiang, according to the Chi- previously discovered had been were knocked down from on Friday morning aft er Saola reported. should enhance monitoring and in coming days. na Meteorological Administra- identifi ed. the 10-meter high bridge,” made landfall in Fuding city at Premier Wen Jiabao called guard against possible disasters. Chen Weifeng, mayor of tion on Friday. Nearly two weeks ago, the the villager said. 6:50 am, it said. for intensifying flood-control Local authorities need to Qinyu in Fujian province, said In Tianjin, a city that has Chinese capital received its Further investigations are Th is was only the second time eff orts and ensuring the safety improve the construction of that although the typhoon has rarely seen flooding in the heaviest rain in six decades. under way. that China has braced for dual of the public amid recent severe infrastructure such as flood- made landfall, the town will still past decade, self-protection Average precipitation hit 170 Th e Datong-Qinhuangd- typhoons since 1949. Zhang fl ooding in several areas. control facilities and sewage be geared up to tackle the down- became a hot topic among mm, while a township in the ao Railway is the main chan- Chang’an, deputy director of the Wen made the remarks dur- networks, which he said have pour and prevent marine staff local residents since it was hit suburban district of Fangshan nel transporting coal from typhoon and marine meteorolo- ing a two-day tour of Henan been overlooked in many cities. and fi shermen from going back by the heavy rainfalls in July recorded 460 mm of rainfall. the resource-rich Shanxi gy center of the China Meteoro- and Hubei provinces, where He ordered local offi cials to to sea to ensure safety. that fl ooded many downtown and Shaanxi provinces and logical Administration, said on he inspected local fl ood-con- draw up emergency response The command center of streets, vehicles and even hous- Wang Qian in Jinan contrib- the Inner Mongolia autono- Th ursday that in 2006, Typhoon trol facilities and water-con- plans to minimize losses in the Fuzhou airport said 28 fl ights es. uted to this story. mous region to the port city Bopha and Typhoon Saomai trol projects, including Th ree event of severe fl ooding. have been canceled because of “I am ready to go home when of Qinhuangdao. caused severe losses. Gorges Dam, Xinhua News Th e National Meteorological strong winds. the weather changes. When the Contact the writers at jinzhu@ An insider with the rail- Witnesses to the storm Agency reported on Th ursday. Center alerted local authorities Tourism in Fujian also took heavy rain comes, I would rath- chinadaily.com.cn and sunli@ way industry was quoted by described their terror. He urged local authorities to gear up their preparations for a toll, as individual tourists er stay at home for safety than chinadaily.com.cn people.com.cn, the website “It’s too scary! I never to ensure safety and conduct natural disasters such as fl oods, and tour groups have dropped drive outside to make money,” of the People’s Daily, as say- thought my house would col- evacuations in a timely manner, mudslides and landslides since because of Saola, said a manag- Wang Yongqiang, a 43-year-old ing that due to the heavy load of trains, the railway indus- try has been concerned with problems connected with OVERSEAS TOURISTS TO BEIJING locomotive brakes. Meanwhile, debris caused Beijing sees slow growth in tourism IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR by the continuous torrential The city has received more than 2.5 million tourists rain blocked the Beijing- By ZHENG XIN An offi cial with the marketing a report on Friday. “If the 72-hour-window from overseas, including Hong Kong, Macao and Harbin Railway’s Qin- [email protected] offi ce of the Badaling section of On the other hand, outbound is implemented, I bet many huangdao section on Th urs- Taiwan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2 percent. the Great Wall said that Badaling tourism, thanks to the apprecia- potential foreign tourists like day and led to the delay of Despite the increasing number received about 320,000 overseas tion of the yuan and the promo- me would love to give the city 11 trains bound for Beijing. of tourists from abroad that Bei- tourists in the fi rst six months, tion of foreign destinations, has a tour,” said the man in his 30s. 5.9% The railway line resumed jing received in the fi rst half of the up 6.7 percent over the same outperformed its inbound coun- “Three days would be enough Pacific and Africa 48.5% operations on Friday but year, the growth is slowing down.