At least five people have been killed and four others went missing when typhoon Krovanh slammed into Guangdong Province starting early on Monday morning.

The port cities of Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yangjiang in western part of Guangdong Province were the hardest hit by Krovanh in the previous two days.

More than 2.7 million residents were affected by Krovanh, which was accompanied by raging storms.

The direct economic losses caused by Krovanh, the 12th to hit the Chinese mainland this year, came to more than 1.2 billion yuan (US$144.58 million).

In Zhanjiang, two people were killed while three other went missing after 20 fishing boats sank.

A total of 101,688 houses were destroyed or damaged in Zhanjiang, affecting more than 700,000 local residents.

The direct economic losses in Zhanjiang alone hit more than 900 million yuan (US$108.4 million).

More than 20,000 hectares of banana trees and many other areas for growing crops were destroyed and flooded out.

And many sections of coastal dykes, fishing pools and reservoirs were also breached by the storms in Zhanjiang.

In Maoming, more than 1.5 million people from a total of 107 towns in six counties were affected.

A total of 1,830 houses were destroyed and damaged by the storms, while more than 1,500 domestic animals were killed.

And 19,200 hectares of crops were flooded out, while 390 hectares of hatcheries in coastal areas were destroyed.

A total of 151 fishing boats capsized or were damaged, while 165 industrial companies had to stop production because of the disaster in the past two days.

Krovanh also seriously struck Yangjiang, affecting more than 532,000 residents from 37 townships in four counties.

Over 42 kilometers of coastal dykes were breached, which left 18,000 hectares of crops were flooded in the city.

A large number of animals were killed and 49 large and medium-sized industrial and mineral companies were forced to stop production.

The economic losses in Yangjiang came to 80 million yuan (US$9.64 million).

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen and Zhuhai's special economic zones were also hit by storms over the past few days.

In Guangzhou, a boat capsized at the mouth of the Pearl River, claiming one life with another person still missing.

More than 500 passengers were stranded in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport yesterday when more than 20 flights were cancelled or delayed.

In Shenzhen, two people, including one Hong Kong woman, were killed when they were swimming at the Xiaomeisha Seaside Resorts in Shenzhen. They were washed away by big waves caused by Krovanh.

All the planes which were grounded overnight at Shenzhen's Baoao International Airport had to be tied down by strong ropes to prevent from being blown away in the past two days.

(China Daily August 27, 2003)