A typhoon and torrential rains killed at least 18 people in southern and central China, leaving more than 20,000 stranded in Sichuan province, which was devastated by an earthquake earlier this year.

Heavy rain in Sichuan killed at least eight people and left 38 missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. As much as 34 centimeters (13.4 inches) of rain fell in the last two days, the China Meteorological Administration said.

Officials are concerned about the safety of residents as roads and telephone lines were cut after the rains caused floods and mudslides, Xinhua said, citing the Jiangyou municipal government. Sichuan is still rebuilding cities devastated by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in May that killed 69,226 people and left 15 million homeless.

The rainstorms damaged 1,100 houses in Beichuan County in Sichuan and 6,500 people were being evacuated, Xinhua said. Rescue workers found 2,476 houses collapsed in Shifang City and evacuated about 3,500 people, Xinhua said.

More than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the south, the death toll rose to 10 after Typhoon Hagupit smashed into the coast of Guangdong province early yesterday, Xinhua said.

The storm left two missing and caused losses of 6.3 billion yuan ($924 million), Xinhua said, citing the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Evacuating Residents

About 8.5 million people in Guangdong and neighboring Guangxi province were affected by the storm and 387,400 were evacuated to safer areas, Xinhua said in an earlier report. Hagupit destroyed 18,500 houses, the latest report said.

Another typhoon is building east of the Philippines, where 8 people died when Hagupit passed by Luzon earlier this week.

Typhoon Jangmi strengthened today from a tropical storm and was located about 1,240 kilometers east of Manila at 2 p.m. Philippines time today, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Center said.

The storm's maximum sustained winds were at 120 kph as it headed northwest at 26 kph. Jangmi is forecast to strengthen and head toward Taiwan and the southeastern coast of China. Its winds are expected to strengthen to 204 kph by Sept. 28.

Jangmi, the 19th storm of the northwest Pacific cyclone season, means rose in the Korean language, according to the Web site of the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists names used for cyclones in the region.