Sandbags are passed from hand to hand along the Chuhe River, east China's Anhui Province, August 4, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) 

HEFEI, Aug.4, 2008 -- Heavy rain and flooding triggered by typhoon Fung Wong has claimed nine lives and caused around 2.37 billion yuan (about 345.9 million U.S. dollars) of economic loss in east China's Anhui Province, according to the provincial civil affairs bureau on Monday.

A preliminary investigation by the bureau showed the disaster had affected the lives of 2.59 million people in 38 counties, with 91,330 of them displaced as of 11 a.m. on Monday.

Soldiers work on digging the drainage of the Chuhe River, east China's Anhui Province, August 4, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) 

The typhoon also toppled 8,667 houses, damaged 38,300 houses and destroyed 43,000 hectares of farmland.

The bureau had dispatched 530 tents and assigned 5.1 million yuan as a disaster relief fund.

Fung Wong was the eighth tropical storm to hit the country this year. It was downgraded from a typhoon early on Tuesday after making landfall in Fujian, the area worst hit by the storm. The coastal province suffered economic losses of 1 billion yuan.