More than 850,000 people were evacuated from China's southeastern coastal areas yesterday as Typhoon Haitang bore down on them after wreaking havoc on Taiwan.

Haitang's 230-kmh winds struck northern Taiwan yesterday afternoon killing at least one person, injuring 58 and leaving more than one million homes without electricity.

All day yesterday and into the night communities in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces were bracing for the worst, hoping last year's tragedy from Typhoon Rananim, which was blamed for 164 deaths and damages totalling 18.1 billion yuan (US$2.18 billion), would not be repeated.

Ruan Yunzhen, a disabled man from Yuanyu Village in Cangnan county of Wenzhou, in East China's Zhejiang Province, did not want to leave his home but finally gave in to village head's pleas to evacuate yesterday.

"Now I know I am safer here, thanks to the village head's help," said Ruan who agreed to stay at a relative's home well inland.

In preparation for relief and rescue operations, 5,000 armed police were mobilized as authorities got ready for Haitang's arrival .

Huang Liying, a cleaner in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, was one of those who did not go to work yesterday to prepare for the storm.

"I stored some water and food after I heard the news," she said. "Who knows whether power and water supplies will be cut off when the typhoon comes?"

Power was lost several times in some downtown office buildings yesterday afternoon due to already strong winds.

"We had to turn on the spare electrical generator to assure power supply in our building," a worker surnamed Qiu said in the property maintenance office of Zhidi Plaza in Fuzhou while helping his colleagues restore power.

Forecasters were predicting winds of more than 120 kmh, and "the impact on our province will be pretty big," said a local weather bureau spokeswoman.

To keep the damage to a minimum, Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday urged local governments in Fujian to be well prepared.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters issued a circular, calling on local governments to move people to safe places and to take effective measures to safeguard people's lives and property.

Fujian reported more than 530,000 residents were moved off ships and boats and out of coastal areas. Zhejiang has evacuated 326,000 people and arranged for 25,000 ships to take shelter in its harbours, Xinhua reported.

Special teams from power, transport, communication and water supply sectors were on duty to protect and maintain facilities.

Reservoirs, dikes and embankments began round-the-clock surveillance to stay ahead of possible danger.

The Wenzhou city government held an emergency teleconference to tighten security and relocate people from 1,388 threatened locations.

Education authorities in both provinces asked schools and summer camps to stop all student activities. They organized inspections and urgent repairs to old buildings.

All mining work, large open-air construction and receptions at tourist resorts were halted.

Pan Jinsong, spokesman with the Zhejiang Meteorological Observatory in Hangzhou, said the strength of the typhoon at landfall might be weaker than Rananim, which battered the province last year.

Most of the 58 injured in Taiwan were hurt by falling trees, billboards and broken glass, while the winds also disrupted power supplies in Changhua, Pingtung, Yunlin, Tainan, Hualien and Ilan counties.

Statistics show that as of yesterday morning, more than 1.07 million households on the island were without electricity.

Continuing heavy rain also caused considerable damage to crops in Kaohsiung County.

Airlines using Taiwan's airports cancelled more than 160 scheduled flights yesterday, affecting the travel plans of some 12,000 passengers.

(China Daily 07/19/2005 page1)