ARMY AND PARAMILITARY UNITS WERE CLEANING UP SATURDAY AFTER TYPHOON SAOMAI, WHICH CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 105 PEOPLE IN SOUTH-EAST CHINA, ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL REPORTS, REPORTED BY DPA. IN THE AFFECTED PROVINCES OF ZHEJIANG AND FUJIAN, 190 PEOPLE WERE REPORTEDLY STILL MISSING ON SATURDAY. SAOMAI, CLASSIFIED AS A SUPERTYPHOON, LANDED THURSDAY WITH WINDS OF 216 KILOMETRES AND HEAVY RAINS AT CANGCAN IN EASTERN CHINA'S ZHEJIANG PROVINCE. WINDS NEAR THE CENTRE OF THE TYPHOON WERE AS HIGH AS 60 METRES PER SECOND, OR FORCE 17, THE HIGHEST ON THE RECENTLY EXTENDED BEAUFORT SCALE, ACCORDING TO A ZHEJIANG METEOROLOGICAL OFFICIAL. AROUND 50,000 HOUSES WERE DESTROYED IN ZHEJIANG AND NEIGHBOURING FUJIAN PROVINCE. UPROOTED TREES BLOCKED ROADS, FISHING BOATS WRECKED AND STREETS WASHED AWAY BEFORE THE TYPHOON TURNED INTO A TROPICAL STORM, CAUSING DOWNPOURS IN NEIGHBOURING PROVINCES. "THE WIND WAS SO STRONG, THAT WHOLE WINDOWS WERE BLOWN INTO THE ROOM," AN OFFICIAL IN ZHEJIANG PROVINCE TOLD CHINA DAILY NEWSPAPER. RESIDENTS OF THE STRICKEN AREAS THOUGHT THAT THE NUMBERS OF DEAD AND MISSING EXCEEDED OFFICIAL ESTIMATES. SAOMAI IS THE EIGHTH TYPHOON TO HIT CHINA THIS YEAR. THE PREVIOUS ONE, PRAPIROON, FIZZLED OUT EARLIER THIS WEEK AFTER KILLING MORE THAN 80 PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN CHINA. 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.
