(Bloomberg) — Super typhoon Rammasun slammed into China'ssouthern provinces with deadly force, sending millions fleeingtheir homes and damaging power and water facilities, afterbattering the Philippines where the death toll rose to 94.

Seventeen people have been killed since the typhoon, thestrongest to hit southern China in four decades, made landfall July18, Xinhua News Agency reported today. Almost 5.6 million people incoastal Guangdong and Hainan provinces and Guangxi ZhuangAutonomous Region were affected, Xinhua said, citing local civilaffairs authorities.

The storm hit Hainan with winds gusting to 216 kilometers (134miles) an hour, Xinhua said, citing the National MeteorologicalCenter. Relief efforts are being hampered by damage to power andtelecommunications networks, ports and roads, and water supplies,Xinhua reported.

Economic losses from Rammasun exceed 10.8 billion yuan ($1.7billion), the report cited provincial civilian authorities assaying.

Weather authorities downgraded Rammasun to a tropical depressionthis morning, and warned that areas such as Yunnan, Guizhou andwestern Guangxi could face heavy rain and experience landslides.The storm is forecast to move inland, hitting mountainous southernChina and northern Vietnam with downpours that threaten landslidesand flooding.

Missing in Philippines

Six people remain missing in the Philippines and more than halfa million are still in evacuation centers after Rammasun sweptacross the island nation last week.

The cyclone displaced about 1.6 million people and caused anestimated 7.3 billion pesos ($168 million) of damage as it struckthe Philippines, according to the National Disaster Risk Reductionand Management Council. The storm damaged or destroyed tens ofthousands of homes and more than 300 people were injured, accordingto the council.

A new tropical cyclone, designated Matmo, has developedsustained winds of 70 knots (130 kilometers per hour), gusting to85 knots, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the U.S.Navy.

Centered about 500 nautical miles (930 kilometers) east-southeast of Manila and tracking northwest at 7 knots, Matmo willprobably brush by the northern Philippines tomorrow night beforecrossing over Taiwan and heading toward mainland China, thecenter's latest forecast shows.

–With assistance from Greg Ahlstrand in Hong Kong, ClarissaBatino in Manila, Diep Ngoc Pham in Hanoi, Aipeng Soo in Beijingand Alexandra Ho in Shanghai.

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