China hit by flooding after Typhoon Fitow

Shanghai city officials have closed more than 60 parks and the city zoo as residents wade through flood waters after heavy rains hit the financial hub in the aftermath of Typhoon Fitow.

The official Xinhua News Agency said that Shanghai had been hit with 152 millimetres (six inches) of rain, the highest single-day total since 1961.

Xinhua said that although the typhoon landed on Monday in the south-eastern province of Fujian, the neighbouring province of Zhejiang has been hit the hardest, with the death toll now at six. Schools have been closed and power and transportation disrupted throughout the province.

In its capital city of Hangzhou, the water level for the scenic West Lake has risen 280 millimetres (11 inches), flooding lakeside walkways.

AP