Bilis Update

Please continue to pray for the people in Asia. Here's the latest on Bilis:

Tropical Storm Bilis Reaches China, People Evacuated
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- China evacuated as many as 256,000 people from Fujian province as Tropical Storm Bilis made landfall in the southeast after grounding flights in Taiwan and leaving 14 people dead in the Philippines.

Bilis, with maximum wind speed of 73 miles per hour, made landfall at 12:50 p.m. local time at Xiapu district in Fujian, the provincial meteorological bureau reported on its Web site. The storm is moving in a northwesterly direction and may reach Jiangxi province tonight, bureau spokeswoman Wang Xia said.

The storm, the second to hit China since May, dumped 20 inches of rain in the highlands of southern Taiwan. Bilis caused $881,900 in damage to roads, bridges and agriculture in the Philippines, the country's National Disaster Coordinating Council said. Damage in Taiwan was estimated at NT$3.64 million ($111,300), the government said.

A boat service between Xiamen city in Fujian and Jinmen island off Taiwan's coast was halted, while up to 7,000 fishermen and their families were ordered by the Chinese government to return to land in Fujian.

The Fujian government yesterday ordered schools to suspend classes for a day, closed all tourist sites in Xiamen city and put 3,500 soldiers on alert to help with evacuations and emergency services, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.