FUZHOU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Rainstorms swept east China's Fujian Province on Friday after tropical storm Cimaron made landfall on Thursday night.
Torrential rain, the biggest in more than a century in cities of Zhangzhou and Xiamen, have left one person dead and another missing, said the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters Friday.
Rain also forced the evacuation of 89,200 people to safety and inflicted direct economic losses of 1.55 billion yuan (252 million U.S. dollars), it said.
Some neighborhoods and villages in southern Fujian were flooded, and 400 houses collapsed and power to 81,000 homes was cut off in affected areas.
From 10 p.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Friday, ten county-level regions in Fujian reported precipitation of 50 mm to 100 mm. Eleven others had more than 100 mm of rainfall, with 520 mm in the city of Longhai.
"I have never seen such heavy rain in my life," said Wang Yaqing, a 45-year-old resident of Longhai.
Fifty-six small and medium-sized reservoirs across the province were overflowing following the record amount of rain.
The provincial meteorological station said the heavy rain will continue in six cities until Friday night.
Cimaron, the eighth tropical storm to hit China this year, landed in coastal Zhangpu County in the city of Zhangzhou at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, packing strong wind and bringing heavy rain.
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