More than half a million Chinese people run big storms

Hurricane Fitow hit the east coast of China today, leaving thousands of people evacuated and forcing officials to issue the highest level of storm warnings.

>>> Thevideo of Fitow storms in Zhejiang

Hurricane Fitow, with winds of up to 150km / h, landed in Fujian province early this morning, carrying heavy rain and causing widespread power outages, Xinhua reported.

Yesterday, China National Meteorological Center issued a red warning, the highest storm warning level. In Zhejiang, 574,000 people were evacuated, while in Fujian, this figure was 177,000.

The soldiers ran along a dike in Wenling, Zhejiang, when Typhoon Fitow, causing high waves, landed on land.(Photo: AFP)

Officials have asked localities to check the safety of dams, reservoirs and chemical plants. Tens of thousands of ships in the two provinces were also ordered to find safe anchorage places.

Some houses in Zhejiang were knocked down by strong winds, a boy was injured by broken glass. Two workers at the port of Wenzhou city were missing and were likely to have been swept into the sea. The storm also interrupted high-speed train service in many other cities in the two provinces, Wenzhou airport had to cancel 27 flights.

Fitow is expected to move northwest but will soon weaken, the China National Meteorological Center said.

Named after a flower in Micronesia, a Pacific island nation, Fitow landed in China just two weeks after the typhoon Usagi passed and killed at least 25 people in the south of the country.

Previously, Fitow swept across the islands of Okinawa in southern Japan and north of Taiwan island, causing the flight and operation of the ship to stall.