State news agency Xinhua cited a statement from the flood control office of Fujian Province as saying that 438,000 residents in nine cities had been temporarily evacuated as of 1 p.m. (0500GMT) after Nepartak destroyed more than 1,000 houses.

Almost 49,000 hectares of crops were damaged -- with 4,500 hectares of it “totally destroyed” -- by the storm, which was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm earlier.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds are forecast to continue in Fujian as well as the neighboring provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

Before making landfall on the mainland, Nepartak swept through Taiwan where the ministry of health and welfare reported that two people were killed and more than 300 others injured.

The mainland had been bracing for the storm following more than a week of torrential rains that left at least 160 people dead.