Typhoon Haikui kills three in China

A raging river in the aftermath of Typhoon Haikui, here in eastern China.

According to Chinese state media, three people were killed when floodwaters swept through eastern provinces.

Haikui, which had weakened to a tropical storm by Wednesday afternoon, killed two in Shanghai and one in neighbouring Anhui Province.

More than one-and-a-half million people were evacuated, thousands of whom had been trapped in rural areas.

State broadcaster Xinhua reports that over 4,000 houses were destroyed, while total damages topped 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.