Taiwan races to rescue sailors stranded by Typhoon Gaemi as China warns of wide impacts: Live updates
More than 290,000 people in China have been forced to flee their homes
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Taiwan’s coast guard is working to rescue dozens of sailors stranded off its southern coast after Typhoon Gaemi sank one freighter and left eight others stranded.
The typhoon flooded streets, knocked out power and killed at least five people in Taiwan before heading to China. It earlier killed 22 people in the Philippines.
Seventy-nine crew members are awaiting rescue on the eight freighters that were stranded, the coast guard said. Nine people were rescued earlier today from a Togo-flagged freighter stranded on a beach.
Typhoon Gaemi made landfall in China on Thursday evening, after officials issued widespread flood warnings and evacuations.
More than 290,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Fujian while emergency responses were put in place and flights and trains have been cancelled.
Gaemi is forecast to unleash intense rainfall in at least 10 Chinese provinces, including the capital Beijing, in the coming days, areas that have already been soaked by days of rainfall.
Gaemi has drawn comparisons with Typhoon Doksuri last year, which triggered historic flooding as far north as Beijing and caused nationwide losses of nearly $30bn.
Everything known about Taiwan’s strongest storm in eight years
Typhoon Gaemi: Everything we know about strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years
Nearly 150,000 people relocated in China’s Fujian as typhoon approaches
Man, 78, dies in mudslide on home
A 78-year-old man in Taiwan died when his home was hit by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said, and two people were killed on Wednesday before the storm made landfall around midnight.
Another 380 people were reported to have been injured.
A third death on Wednesday - a driver pinned under an overturned excavator - was initially attributed to the typhoon but later was determined not be linked, the news agency said.
Typhoon hits Chinese coast
The typhoon has made landfall in China after sweeping across Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and left three people dead.
In China’s coastal Fujian province, more than 240,000 people have been forced to flee as it approached, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
After hitting the coast, the storm is expected to bring heavy rains to inland areas including the capital Beijing over the next three days.
Flood warnings in China
Authorities in China have warned of swelling rivers, flash floods and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rain just several weeks ago.
Gaemi, the third and most powerful typhoon to hit China’s eastern seaboard this year, made landfall in Fujian province.
Typhoon weakens to 'severe tropical storm’
Typhoon Gaemi has weakened into a “severe tropical storm” over southeastern China, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Radar images show the latest path and intensity:
In pictures: Search for trapped people in Taiwan
Fears over flooding in China as Gaemi hits
Typhoon Gaemi roared into southeastern China on Thursday night after churning across the Taiwan Strait, prompting warnings of swelling rivers, flash floods and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rains just several 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 p.m. (1150 GMT) after whipping Taiwan with gusts of up to 227 kph (141 mph), some of the strongest winds recorded in the Western Pacific Ocean.
Chinese city of Fujian evacuated
Ahead of the typhoon’s arrival in China, 240,800 people in Fujian were evacuated.
Despite slightly weakening since its landfall in Fujian’s Putian, a city of over 3 million, Gaemi and its giant cloud-bands are forecast to unleash intense rainfall in at least 10 Chinese provinces in the coming days.
The arrival of Gaemi has drawn comparisons with Typhoon Doksuri last year, which triggered historic flooding as far north as Beijing and caused nationwide losses of nearly $30 billion.
Authorities said water levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as the vast freshwater lakes of Poyang and Dongting in central China could rise, returning to dangerous levels seen in early July after intense summer rains.
Gaemi to impact at least 10 Chinese provinces
Despite slightly weakening since its landfall in Fujian's Putian, a city of over 3 million, Gaemi and its giant cloud-bands are forecast to unleash intense rainfall in at least 10 Chinese provinces in the coming days, forecasters say.
The arrival of Gaemi has drawn comparisons with Typhoon Doksuri last year, which triggered historic flooding as far north as Beijing and caused nationwide losses of nearly $30bn.
Authorities said water levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as the vast freshwater lakes of Poyang and Dongting in central China could rise, returning to dangerous levels seen in early July after intense summer rains.
Due to its high vapour content, Beijing cautioned that Gaemi could spawn strong rainfall in the Chinese capital, about 2,000 km (1,242 miles) north of Putian, even as the storm weakens into a tropical depression.
Gaemi's rains could cause flash floods and waterlogging particularly in parts of northern China where the soil remains saturated after being lashed by a passing system of storms earlier this week, authorities warned.
Parts of Taiwan may have received 87 inches of rain since Tuesday
Typhoon Gaemi has moved inside China but parts of Taiwan were still getting lashed by relentless rainfall.
Some parts of southern Taiwan are expected to have recorded rainfall of 2,200 mm (87 inches) since Tuesday.
The storm cut power to around half a million households, though most are now back online, utility Taipower said.
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