Heavy rains lash southeastern China after Tropical Storm Podul makes landfall

Heavy rains lashed parts of southeastern China on Thursday as Tropical Storm Podul made landfall after leaving one missing on the self-governing island of Taiwan.

School was canceled in Hong Kong and Macao. Some Macao streets were closed because of flooding, and Hong Kong suspended court proceedings. The Hong Kong Observatory, the meteorological agency for the city, advised residents to stay away from the shore.

Podul made landfall shortly after midnight in Fujian province, downgraded from typhoon strength. About 15,000 people were evacuated from seaside areas in southern China ahead of the storm, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Southern Taiwan was cleaning up after Podol made landfall Wednesday on its east coast as a typhoon before traveling out into the Taiwan Strait about five hours later.

One person was missing after being swept out to sea, about 100 people were injured and 8,000 evacuated to shelters. Electric company workers moved swiftly to restore power following complaints over a slow response following earlier storms.

Separately, one person was reported dead and three others missing after heavy rains triggered a landslide Wednesday in Yunnan province in southwestern China, state media reported.

In Beijing, the body of a village leader who went missing more than two weeks ago in a flood was found Wednesday, bringing the death toll from that disaster to at least 45 people.

The 51-year-old official died while on her way to evacuate two old people, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Beijing Communist Party committee. It didn't say how she had died.

Both she and her husband, who also died in the flood, received posthumous recognition as "Outstanding Communist Party Member of Beijing," the party statement said.