ReliefWeb

China

On 18 August, Typhoon Winnie made landfall in China, Zhejiang Province, giving rise to rainfall over 200 mm. The typhoon arrived at a time when there was high tide, reaching the highest level in history. The sea embankment at Taizhou City was destroyed and sea water submerged a large stretch of farmland. The sea embankment at Wenzhou, Ningbo and Zhoushan were also severely damaged, part of the areas were inundated. (UN DHA, 20 Aug 1997)

As of 22 August, in addition to the Zhejiang Province, the Provinces of Fujian, Jiangsu and Shandong have also been seriously affected by the passage of Typhoon Winnie. In the Shandong Province, from 19 to 20 August, 46 counties and cities received rainfall of more than 100 mm, and sea and water embankments were ruined in more than a hundred places. Latest figures indicate that in these four provinces approximately 29.6 million people have been affected, of whom 2.2 million in 3,562 villages were surrounded by flood waters. More than 1.4 million people have been evacuated. More than 1.1 million houses have been partially or totally damaged and some 1.4 million ha of crops have been damaged or totally lost. (UN DHA, 22 Aug 1997)

Super Typhoon Winnie, recognised as the worst typhoon to hit China and Taiwan in the past decade, caused the deaths of more than 250 people and injured over 3,000 when it passed Taiwan and hit Zhejiang Province, moving at 40 metres per second. Shangdong and Jiangsu Provinces, and Shanghai City were also significantly affected during the storm of 17 - 19 August. More than 100,000 rooms were destroyed leaving tens of thousands without shelter. Deaths and injury were mostly caused by crushing as buildings collapsed, drowning, electrocution, and when struck by flying debris. (IFRC, 22 Aug 1997)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The Typhoon affected 22 counties in three provinces: North Pyongan, South Pyongan, and South Huanghae. The North Korean Government estimates that 2.8 million people were affected by the storm, with 29,000 people made homeless. The government also reported significant agricultural losses, including 107,625 hectares of damaged land and 700,000 metric tons of lost cereal crops. Nearly 1,000 sea dikes were also destroyed. (CARE, 5 Sep 1997)

Philippines

On 18 August, fringes of Typhoon Winnie together with torrential monsoon rains hit several regions in the Philippines, causing flooding, in particular in the northwestern and northcentral regions, including the Luzon region and the Metro Manila area, and parts of Visayas and Mindanao. Figures provided by the National Disaster Coordinating Council indicate 17 people dead, five injured and one missing. Approximately 151,153 families, or 810,105 persons, have been affected. A total of 11,312 families or 53,654 persons were evacuated. (UN DHA, 22 Aug 1997)