TWO people were swept away by floods after a dike enclosing low-lying land was breached in Longgang District on Saturday, when heavy rain brought by Typhoon Neoguri hit Shenzhen.

A woman in her 80s and an 11-year-old girl were nearby at about 8:30 p.m. when floods rushed down the streets in Henggang Subdistrict and swept them away, the Daily Sunshine said yesterday.

They died after medical treatment failed.

The flooding, more than one meter in depth, also damaged 10 vehicles.

Landslides were reported in Luohu, Yantian and Longgang districts, but without casualties.

The economic loss was estimated at 37 million yuan (US$5.3 million).

Shenzhen recorded an average of more than 100 millimeters of rainfall between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday.

The first typhoon in South China this year landed at Yangdong County, Guangdong Province, at 2:15 p.m. after making landfall Friday at Longlou Township, Wenchang City in the northeast of Hainan Province. Eighteen fishermen went missing in Hainan.

Neoguri is the earliest typhoon of the season to affect South China since 1949.

(SD News)

Debris after the floods in Henggang Subdistrict, Longgang District, on Saturday. Jia Yuchuan