One million flee as storm batters China

State media showed residents in the rice-growing provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian bracing against the heavy wind, which one reporter described as like sand pelting his face.

In the worst-hit area, Zhejiang's coastal Cangnan county, power supply was sporadic, water cut off and floodwaters reached shoulder height after torrential rains.

At least 300 people in Cangnan's Guangmei area holed up in a primary school on high ground only to be surrounded by floodwaters, residents said.

"A wall of our school has collapsed because of the rising floodwater," a school official surnamed Ye told Reuters by telephone. Securing food for those inside was the biggest problem, he said.

A university student interning at the school said government relief supplies had yet to reach them.

"I have seen two boats coming to bring food and carry some people away. But they were not sent by the government," the student, Cheng Jiajia, said by telephone.

"Everyone staying here was offered a bag of biscuits and bottled water last night, but the food was only sufficient for two meals," she said.

A landslide of mud and rock caused by the torrential rain blocked roads in the area.

The death toll from Typhoon Haitang in Taiwan meanwhile rose to 10, with another three missing after the storm shut schools, offices and financial markets on Monday.

In the far south of the island, 3,000 tourists were stranded as heavy rain and floodwaters damaged a bridge and cut off road links, local media said. The government planned to send chartered jets to bring the tourists out, reports said.