Cyclone Hits Shanghai, Injuring oneA cyclone attacked Zhaotun Town, Qingpu County, in east China's Shanghai Municipality, Tuesday morning, leaving one villager wounded and affecting 125 rural homes, two factories and some farm crops, causing an estimated financial loss of 560,000 yuan.The wind also caused rainstorms in the two neighboring towns of Huangdu and Anting, in Jiading County, causing minor damage to over 100 rural homes, but no one was hurt. It is the first cyclone Shanghai has experienced since the city entered this year's rainy period on June 17. The rainy period, dubbed "Plum Rain Season" by local people in Shanghai and parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, features intermittent drizzles. A local official said that it is rare to see whirlwinds in the first days of the "Plum Rain Season". A rainstorm hit the city's Chongming Island last Saturday, leveling nine houses. So far, the "Plum Rain Season" has resulted in over one million yuan of financial losses to local people. The "Plum Rain Season" normally lasts over 20 days, with an average rainfall of 188 mm. The city witnessed a record rainfall during the "Plum Rain Season" of 1999, which lasted for as long as 43 days and brought about a total rainfall of over 800 mm. |
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