by Benjamin Yeh
TAIPEI, Aug 25 (AFP) - China evacuated hundreds of thousands of people as Typhoon Aere lashed neighbouring Taiwan Wednesday, triggering landslides and disruption and leaving at least seven people feared dead and one missing.
The storm was packing winds of 140 kilometres (84 miles) per hour as it bore down on the island`s capital Taipei, which shut down financial markets, schools and offices for a second day.
The bad weather forced Taiwan Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who was due to arrive at northern Chiang Kai-shek airport Wednesday morning, to temporarily divert to Okinawa in Japan for safety reasons.
"The pilots had tried to fly back as scheduled, but then they found the winds around the airport were too severe to land," Roger Han, spokesman for Taiwan`s China Airlines, told AFP. Yu`s arrival was postponed to 1:30 pm (0530 GMT).
Across the Taiwan Strait, China prepared for the worst as Aere was forecast to make landfall in the eastern province of Zhejiang later Wednesday.
Zhejiang evacuated some 249,000 people and nearly 31,500 fishing boats were also called back to port, China`s Xinhua news agency said.
The center of Aere -- which means `storm` in the Marshall Islands where it began -- was located 70 kilometers northwest of Taipei at around 10:00 am (0200 GMT).
It was heading west at 15 kilometers per hour towards China, where at least 164 people were killed and 1,800 injured when Typhoon Rananim carved a trail of destruction through Zhejiang province earlier this month.
A Hong Kong fisherman died and four others were reported missing late Monday after two boats capsized off the north and east of Taiwan. Taiwan`s National Rescue Command Center said the fishermen were presumed dead, and that search missions were forced to be suspended.
Two young girls were also swept away while swimming in heavy seas in southern Japan, which was also hit by the typhoon.
A 72-year-old farmer in Taiwan`s central Nantou county was missing after being washed away by flash-floods on his way home, rescue officials said.
Fifteen Taipei residents were injured, most of them hit by falling debris, while gusts of winds uprooted trees in Taipei and caused several car crashes, local officials said.
Power supplies were cut off to some 250,000 households while 770,000 lost water supplies.
Weathermen said they were alarmed by the huge amounts of rain being dumped by the typhoon.
"It could be the most critical moment in the next few hours when the center of the typhoon is closest to the island," warned an official with the Central Weather Bureau.
Taiwan authorities had to evacuate thousands of residents living in low-lying and mountainous areas in the wake of flooding and landslides.
In Sanchung city outside the capital, where a subway system is being built, the authorities managed to pull out residents while battling with flooding.
Adding to rising river levels was the release of water from dams where officials said they could no longer take in more water.
The typhoon had ditched up to 1,400 millimeters (56 inches) of rain in central Miaoli county and put 47 towns islandwide on alert against possible landslides.
The rain and winds also caused major disruption to the transport network.
All international flights to and from Chiang Kai-shek airport were called off. Domestic flights were suspended after a Far Eastern Air Transport aircraft skidded off the runway when it landed in Taipei early Tuesday.
Airport authorities said all 93 passengers and six crew were unhurt.
Rail links between Taipei and eastern coastal cities were interrupted. Offices in most cities and counties in northern Taiwan were also shut.
Taiwan, an island of 23 million people off the southeastern coast of China, is often hit by typhoons.
Heavy rain in the wake of Typhoon Mindulle last month triggered floods and mudslides in central and southern Taiwan in which 29 people were killed.