Typhoon Gaemi made strong landfall in southeastern China on Thursday after crossing the Taiwan Strait, triggering warnings of swollen rivers, flooding and waterlogging in cities and provinces already battered by heavy rains just weeks ago.
Gaemi, the third and most powerful typhoon to hit China’s eastern seaboard this year, made landfall in Fujian province at 7:50 pm (1150 GMT) after hitting Taiwan with winds of 227 kilometres per hour (141 mph), among the strongest ever recorded in the western Pacific Ocean.
240,800 people were evacuated in Fujian ahead of its arrival.
Despite weakening slightly since making landfall in Putian, a Fujianese city of more than 3 million, Gaemi and its vast cloud bands are expected to bring intense rainfall to at least 10 Chinese provinces in the coming days.
Gaemi’s arrival has been compared to last year’s Typhoon Doksuri, which brought historic flooding as far north as Beijing and caused about $30 billion in damage across the country.
Water levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as the giant freshwater lakes of Poyang and Dongting in central China could rise, returning to dangerous levels seen in early July after heavy summer rains, officials said.
Due to its high water vapor content, Beijing warned that Gaemi could bring heavy rainfall to the Chinese capital, which is about 2,000 km (1,242 miles) north of Putian, even after the storm weakens into a tropical depression.
Officials have warned that Gaemi’s rainfall could cause flash floods and mudslides, especially in parts of northern China where soils were left submerged by storms earlier this week.
Typhoon Gaemi killed three people in Taiwan, caused flooding and sank a cargo ship as it made landfall on the island on Wednesday night, the first typhoon to hit the island in eight years.
Parts of southern Taiwan have recorded as much as 2,200 mm (87 inches) of rain since Tuesday. Utility Taipower said the storm cut power to about 500,000 homes, although most have now regained power.
In addition to the three deaths, the typhoon injured 380 people in Taiwan, the government reported.
A Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship carrying nine Myanmar nationals sank off the coast of the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s fire department said.
Three of them were found alive on the shoreline, Taiwan’s coast guard said.
Taiwanese television stations showed images of flooded streets in the island’s cities and counties.
Lee Li-chuan, 55, watched as the roof of his restaurant in the northeastern Taiwanese city of Su’ao flew off.
“I was terrified. It was the strongest earthquake in many years. I was afraid the roof would hit other people,” she told Reuters.
Offices and schools and financial markets remained closed for a second day on Thursday, while trains were halted until 3 pm (0700 GMT) and all domestic flights and 195 international flights were cancelled.