Heavy rain, gusts as Typhoon Doksuri makes China landfall

Doksuri, the second typhoon to make landfall in China in less than two weeks, will move north where 10 provinces will experience heavy rain, reports Al Jazeera.

Typhoon Doksuri has swept into China’s southeastern Fujian province, unleashing heavy rain and violent gusts of wind that whipped power lines sparking fires, uprooted trees, and forced factories and shopping malls to shut.

The second strongest typhoon to land in Fujian after deadly Typhoon Meranti in 2016 forced the closure of schools, businesses and the evacuation of workers from offshore oil and gas fields, state media reported.

Xiamen, Quanzhou and Putian recorded hourly rainfall exceeding 50mm (2.165 inches) on Friday, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

“The whole of Xiamen didn’t go to work this morning,” a Xiamen resident was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

“There are no cars on the roads, and factories and shopping malls are closed. Guess people are scared after Meranti.”

Social media video showed electrical power lines sparking and bursting into flames as winds thrashed Jinjiang, a city of two million, while in Quanzhou, massive trees were uprooted.

There are power and water cuts in some areas of Jinjiang City and Quanzhou in Fujian province, residents said.

Doksuri, the second typhoon to make landfall in China in less than two weeks, will move north where 10 provinces will experience heavy rain, weather forecasters predict.

It is expected to continue to move in a north-westerly direction with gradually weakening intensity, China’s CMA said.

Typhoon Doksuri has already left a wake of death and destruction in its path as it moved from the Philippines across southern Taiwan.

The storm toppled trees and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes in southern Taiwan, prompting authorities to shut business for a second day on Friday and warn of extreme winds, landslides and floods.

Doksuri was categorised as the second-strongest typhoon level by Taiwan’s weather bureau.

A “hurricane-force-wind” alert was issued in the Taiwanese islands of Penghu and Kinmen, where residents were warned to brace for gusts of more than 155km/h (96 mph).

The storm had cut power to more than 2,78,000 homes across Taiwan and downed hundreds of trees in Kaohsiung.

Rainfall of more than 1,000mm (39.4 inches) was recorded in the mountainous eastern and southern parts of the island.

More than 200 domestic and international flights were suspended or delayed on Friday, and railway services between southern and eastern Taiwan were halted.

On Thursday, a ferry sank near the Philippine capital of Manila after passengers alarmed by strong winds rushed to one side of the boat, overturning it.

The Philippine coast guard said on Friday it will investigate why a passenger boat that capsized in a lake near the capital, killing at least 26, was allowed to sail while overloaded.

Authorities rescued 40 people on Thursday after the vessel sank in strong winds, meaning it was carrying many more passengers than it was designed for, the coast guard said.

It is the second-deadliest in the Southeast Asian nation this year after 33 people died in a ferry fire in the southern Philippines in March.

/KN/