(Yicai Global) Aug. 12 -- Lekima, the ninth typhoon this year, which made landfall in the coastal city of Wenling in eastern China's Zhejiang province at 1.45 a.m. on Aug. 10, claimed 32 lives and left another 16 people missing as of 12.00 p.m. yesterday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The tropical cyclone affected 6.5 million residents in Shanghai and in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Fujian provinces as of 5.00 p.m. yesterday, and forced the evacuation of 1.5 million.

Listed firms Zhejiang Qianjiang Motorcycle Group and Zhejiang Ausun Pharmaceutical located in shoreline zones in Zhejiang remained unscathed by Lekima, they said yesterday. Weixing New Building Materials said its current situation is good, but a historical flood is likely to hit its home base of Linhai city tonight, and thus any conclusive assessment would be premature.

Huahai Pharmaceutical suspended production in some of its plants but suffered no property loss, the company stated. The storm caused property loss to HISUN Pharmaceutical, but the property is mostly covered by insurance, the company said.

The tempest has closed 28 sections of nine highways in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong and prompted cancellation of about 3,200 flights in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Beijing, Tianjin and Hohhot, and delayed another 480.

Editor: Ben Armour