Wrapup 3: Typhoon Doksuri hits China, destroys power lines, closes factories

China Putian Food Holding

28/07/2023 05:34

(Adds injuries, evacuations and economic losses in paragraphs
3-4)
    By Bernard Orr and Yimou Lee
       BEIJING/TAIPEI, July 28 (Reuters) - Typhoon Doksuri
swept into southern China on Friday, unleashing heavy rain and
violent gusts of wind that whipped power lines and sparked
fires, uprooted trees and forced factories and shopping malls to
shut.
    The typhoon is the second-strongest to hit southeastern
Fujian province since Typhoon Meranti in 2016 and it forced the
closure of schools, businesses and the evacuation of workers
from offshore oil and gas fields, state media said.
    Doksuri has affected more than 724,600 people, said
state-run CCTV, with 124,400 people evacuated and resettled. So
far, the storm has caused direct economic losses of 52.27
million yuan ($7.30 million), it said.
    In the Fujian port city of Quanzhou, 39 people were reported
to have suffered minor injuries, and more than 500,000 homes
lost power, according to the government's official WeChat
account.
    There were no immediate reports of fatalities. In 2016, at
least 11 people died when Meranti made landfall near the port
city of Xiamen.
    Doksuri's wind speed was clocked at 137 kph (85 mph) as of 1
p.m (0500 GMT), according to the National Meteorological Center.
    Hourly rainfall in Xiamen, Quanzhou and Putian exceeded 50
mm (2.165 inches), according to the China Meteorological
Administration (CMA).
    "The whole of Xiamen didn't go to work this morning," a
local resident, surnamed Zhuang, said.
    "There are no cars on the roads, and factories and shopping
malls are closed. Guess people are scared after Meranti."
    
    DAMAGE
    Social media video showed power lines sparking and bursting
into flames as winds thrashed Jinjiang, a city of two million,
while in Quanzhou massive trees were uprooted and left in the
middle of roads.
    A woman's voice in the background of one video shouted, "so
many fallen tress. Some are broken down. It is a mess. This is
too much. It is horrible."
    Social media videos showed strong winds blowing a large
incense burner across the ground at a temple in Jinjiang and
residents made makeshift barriers at doors to stop rain from
flooding into apartments.
    Residents told Reuters they had experienced power and water
cuts in some areas of Jinjiang and Quanzhou.
    Doksuri, the second typhoon to make landfall in China in
less than two weeks, will move north and dump heavy rain on 10
provinces, weather forecasters predict.
    It is expected to continue to move in a north-westerly
direction and weaken in intensity, China's CMA said.
    The agricultural province of Anhui, which grows corn, rice,
soybean and cotton, lies in the storm's path. Analysts say it
should weaken by the time it reaches the province and they are
watching closely for potential crop damage.
    
    FERRY OVERTURNS
    Typhoon Doksuri has already left a wake of death and
destruction in its path as it moved from the Philippines across
southern Taiwan.
    In the Philippines, a ferry sank near Manila, killing at
least 26 after passengers, alarmed by strong winds, rushed to
one side of the boat and caused it to overturn. As many as 36
people have been killed this week during Doksuri's transit off
the northern Philippines.
    In southern Taiwan, the storm toppled trees and cut power to
hundreds of thousands of homes, prompting authorities to shut
businesses for a second day on Friday and warn of extreme winds,
landslides and floods. Taiwan's weather bureau assigned its
second-strongest typhoon level to the storm.
    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 155 kph (96 mph).
    The storm had cut power to more than 278,000 homes across
Taiwan and downed hundreds of trees in Kaohsiung. Rainfall of
more than 1 metre 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.
 ($1 = 7.16 yuan)

 (Reporting by Bernard Orr in Beijing, Yimou Lee in Taipei,
additional reporting by Dominique Patton, Yuhan Lin, Kevin
Huang, Ethan Wang and the Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms;
Editing by Michael Perry and Neil Fullick.)
 ((yimou.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +886-2-8729-5122;))