Heavy Rainstorm hit in SN of China

Millions of residents were affected as a rainstorm hit a large swathe of eastern China on Tuesday, flooding downtown areas and snarling traffic.

A flooded road causes problems for pedestrians in Shanghai on Tuesday. Typhoon Fitow brought heavy rain to the city, flooding more than 50 roads.

The storm, triggered under the influence of Typhoon Fitow, continued to strike Shanghai and Zhejiang province, forcing both to raise the rainstorm alarm to the highest level of red on Tuesday morning.

In the 12 hours up to 11 am on Tuesday Shanghai reported average rainfall of more than 100 millimeters, while on the outskirts of the city 200 mm fell.

The continuous rain, the rising tide and discharge of floodwater from upstream Taihu Lake caused the Huangpu River, which runs through Shanghai, to rise past the warning line on Tuesday.

In Zhejiang, Yuyao, a city with a population of about 850,000, was one of the hardest hit. More than 70 percent of the city's downtown area was flooded, forcing public transportation to be suspended.

The city's power and tap water supplies were also interrupted, and residents are short of food and clean water. Soldiers rushed in large trucks and speedboats to help with disaster response.

Typhoon Danas, following on the heels of Fitow, has turned northeast in the Pacific and is unlikely to make landfall on the Chinese mainland. Meteorologists warned that high winds will hit the east coast although Danas has been weakening.

The death toll from Fitow and the rainstorm it generated has risen to six with another four missing in Zhejiang.

Figures from the provincial flood control headquarters show that by 6 pm on Monday more than 6.31 million people had been affected, with 4,000 houses flattened.

Key words
台风tái fēnɡ：Typhoon
丹娜丝dān nà sī：Danas
内涝nèi lào：waterlogging