Minister orders flood prevention work as typhoon hits
Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying on Saturday called on national and regional agencies to put measures in place to mitigate the impact of Typhoon Doksuri, as the storm proved much stronger than had been forecast. The official Xinhau news agency reported that Li had told a meeting that Doksuri was more intense than anticipated, bringing more water vapour and having a wider impact. The minister said the focus should be on "no casualties, no collapse of reservoir dams, no breach of important dikes, and no impact on important infrastructure". Li said that the flood control situation was extremely severe in some areas, notably the Haihe River basin, and called for response mechanisms to be put into effect. Doksuri reached shore in Fujian province on Friday morning. In the Fujian port city of Quanzhou, 39 people were reported to have suffered minor injuries, and more than 500,000 homes lost power. The retractable roof of a stadium in downtown Quanzhou was ripped apart as wind lashed its huge dome, sending glass and metal flying. Doksuri's wind speed was downgraded to severe tropical storm but torrential rain was still expected to hit inland provinces such as Anhui, which grows corn, rice, soybean and cotton. (Additional reporting by Reuters)