Typhoon Haima causes heavy damage in south China province

GUANGZHOU - Disasters brought by Typhoon Haima have affected 1.69 million people in South China's Guangdong province, said the provincial civil affairs department on Sunday.

Typhoon Haima barreled into Guangdong Friday, triggering sudden downpours in several cities.

There have been no reports of casualties following the timely evacuation of 668,000 people to safer areas.

The department has received reports of damage to 2,749 houses and some 178,000 hectares of crops. The department estimated that the economic losses total 3.5 billion yuan ($517 million).

The typhoon caused power outages to 2.12 million households. By Saturday, 95.5 percent of them had regained power supply, thanks to emergency repairs by the provincial power grid company.