A strengthening tropical storm dumped rain on eastern China while a prolonged drought plagued the northwest, UPI quoted weather officials as saying. Tropical Storm Meari was gaining strength and it will probably be categorized as a typhoon soon, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency said Saturday. The storm was expected to make landfall in the evening in Zhejiang province. Officials in Shanghai ordered that the city's reservoirs be emptied to make room for water the typhoon was likely to bring, said Zhang Zhengyu, a spokesman for Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters. As part of China worried about flooding and typhoons, a prolonged drought in the northwest province of Gansu caused a shortage of drinking water for more than 2 million people, officials said. The region has received just 20-50 percent of its annual rainfall, leaving a short supply of drinking water that also affected nearly 1 million head of livestock.
