The death toll has risen to 81, with at least nine missing, after tropical storm Prapiroon swept across southern China and destroyed thousands of homes in the last four days, DPA quoted official sources as saying Monday. About 840,000 people were evacuated in the worst-hit provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, where the typhoon affected more than 10 million people and caused damage estimated to cost 7.23 billion yuan (904 million dollars), the civil affairs ministry said. The worst-hit province was Guangdong, where the storm hit land at typhoon strength late Thursday, destroying more than 7,000 homes and leaving at least 54 dead and 7 missing from Thursday to Sunday. As the storm moved westwards over the neighboring province of Guangxi, floods and landslides killed another 26 people and left two missing by Sunday, the ministry said in a statement. The storm destroyed about 6,400 homes and affected 4.3 million people in Guangxi, and weather forecasters warned that it would continue to bring torrential rain to many parts of southwestern China on Monday. Heavy rain brought by Prapiroon has also affected the nearby provinces of Fujian and Hunan, with at least one death reported in Fujian. More than 1,000 people have died in floods, landslides and other disasters following summer storms in China this year. Typhoon Bilis killed more than 600 people in southern and eastern China in mid-July.
