Storm Trami lashes China after killing 17 in Philippines

School staff and police clean up fallen trees caused by Tropical Storm Trami in Taipei on August 22, 2013. AFP

BEIJING — A tropical storm is worsening flooding in southern China after killing 17 people in the Philippines.

Typhoon Trami skirted Taiwan before landing in China’s Fujian province early Thursday morning and weakening into a tropical storm.

It was heading northwest, bringing heavy rain to a region already saturated from another typhoon last week.

Flooding around China has left about 250 people dead or missing, including 21 who were killed Tuesday when a construction site in remote Qinghai province was struck by a flash flood.

Conditions have been especially bad in the northeast, where the Heilong River, known as the Amur in Russian, burst its banks Thursday, forcing thousands to evacuate.

Trami wreaked havoc in the Philippine capital of Manila and in outlying regions, but caused only minor damage in Taiwan.