Tropical Storm Trami worsens flooding

BEIJING (AP):Southern China was hit by fresh flooding yesterday as the second storm in a week lashed the region after killing 17 people in the Philippines.

Typhoon Trami skirted Taiwan before landing in China's Fujian province early yesterday morning and weakening into a tropical storm.

It was heading northwest, bringing heavy rain to a region still feeling the effects of Typhoon Utor, which ground across Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces over the weekend. Minor damage from Trami was reported in coastal areas, but no deaths or injuries had been reported as a result of the storm, this was up to yesterday afternoon.

Flooding around China over the past week has left about 250 people dead or missing, including 21 who were killed Tuesday when a construction site in remote Qinghai province was struck by a flash flood.

Heilong River

Conditions have been especially bad in the northeast, where the Heilong River, known as the Amur in Russian, burst its banks yesterday, forcing thousands of persons to evacuate.

Trami wreaked havoc in the Philippine capital of Manila and in outlying regions, but caused only minor damage in Taiwan.