Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical storm headed for southeastern China packing winds of 108 kilometers (67 miles) an hour after causing at least one death, disrupting power supplies and damaging crops in Taiwan.

China evacuated 20,000 people in Fujian province, about 180 kilometers from Taiwan, as Morakot, which means emerald in Thai, threatened floods and landslides triggered by rains even as it weakened from typhoon status. Provincial authorities said the storm would probably make landfall tonight, Xinhua said.

The eye of the storm was about 60 kilometers southwest of Taipei at 3:15 p.m. local time, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said on its Web site. Morakot was heading north-northwest at 11 kilometers per hour and will probably weaken further, it said.

Four people are missing and 15 injured in Taiwan, according to the latest statement from the National Fire Agency. More than 23,416 people remain without power, and an estimated NT$5 million ($152,550) of crops were damaged, the agency said. Electricity was restored in some areas after disruptions that affected 655,869 people, according to the statement.

Most international flights have resumed, according to the Taoyuan International Airport Web site. The island’s railways will resume service this afternoon, the state-run Taiwan Railway Administration said in a statement.

Southern Taiwan received the most rain, with 1,743 millimeters (70 inches) falling in Pingtung County and 1,175 millimeters in Chiayi as of 2 p.m., the weather bureau said. Morakot, with a radius of 300 kilometers, is expected to be 260 kilometers north northwest of Taipei at 2 p.m. tomorrow, the bureau forecast.

Needed Rainfall

Rainfall from the typhoon may help relieve a water shortage on the island, Ma’s office said in a statement. Vice Economics Minister Hwang Jung-Chiou told reporters this week that Taiwan may have to cut water supplies to swimming pools because of the lack of rainfall, as the El Nino weather phenomenon, which can cause drought, develops in the region.

Morakot may be the strongest tropical storm to make landfall in China so far this year, state media Xinhua news agency said, citing Dong Rong, deputy director of the Fujian observatory. It’s expected to move into northern Fujian and central Zhejiang later today, the report said.

The provincial government sent 8.4 million mobile phone text messages to warn people about the typhoon and ordered schools and tourist attractions to close, Xinhua said.

Workers building the world’s highest power transmission tower on Damaoshan Island in eastern China’s Zhejiang province stopped work yesterday, the report said.

About 34,000 vessels had been recalled to port in Fujian, Xinhua reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chinmei Sung in Taipei at csung4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 8, 2009 03:54 EDT