Fanapi, a 100-year storm, hits China

BEIJING, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Typhoon Fanapi, bringing some of the heaviest rains to southern China in 100 years, triggered landslides and stranded thousands of people. officials said.
The typhoon, the 11th storm to strike China this year, brought torrential rain in most parts of Guangdong province in a 24-hour period that ended at 9 a.m. Tuesday, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The provincial weather bureau said in a statement precipitation totaled 21 inches in 24 hours in the worst-hit Shuangyao Township in Yangchun City.
Fanapi, which landed in coastal Fujian province in southeast China Monday, blew through Fujian and Guangdong, weakening into a low pressure system early Tuesday.
"Heavy rain cut off traffic and communications in the three worst-hit cities of Gaozhou, Xinyi and Yangchun," said He Guoqing, deputy chief of the provincial flood control headquarters.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs estimated losses from Fanapi to manufacturers in Taiwan's industrial sector at more than $44.1 million. The ministry said petrochemical plants were the hardest hit while electronics manufacturers survived relatively unscathed, Xinhua said.
Chinese Premier Wu Den-yih said rainfall levels were so high in some areas, they overwhelmed the limits of flood control facilities in Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County in southern China.

Massive storm hits New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A massive wind and rain storm battered northern New Zealand late Friday, flooding roads and knocking out power to some 30,000 homes, officials said.
Two cold-weather fronts from the northwest spawned the storm system that washed over the region, the country's Metservice weather agency told Radio New Zealand.
At the storm's peak, electric utility Powerco Network operations manager Phil Marsh said around 52,000 customers lost power, Sky News Australia reported.
The coast guard told Radio New Zealand hurricane-force winds of more than 87 mph were recorded in one northern location.
Flooding closed many highways in the area and heavy rain warnings were issued Saturday for the central northern region, the reports said.
There were no immediate reports of death or injuries associated with the huge storm.