28 July 2023

Typhoon Doksuri makes landfall in China

28 July 2023

Typhoon Doksuri has made landfall in China after bringing deadly landslides to the Philippines.

The storm plowed into the eastern province of Fujian on Friday morning after bringing heavy rains and gale-force winds to parts of Taiwan, especially the Penghu island group, also known as the Pescadores.

In the Philippines, a week of stormy weather across the main island of Luzon caused 39 deaths, including 26 when a passenger ship capsized.

At least 13 people were reported dead earlier due to Doksuri’s onslaught, mostly due to landslides, flooding and toppled trees, and thousands were displaced, disaster response officials said.

More than 20 others remained missing, including four coastguard personnel whose boat overturned while on a rescue mission in the hard-hit Cagayan province, disaster response officials said on Friday.

The storm caused widespread power cuts and agricultural damage in the archipelagic country and prompted the suspension of work, classes and sea travel at the height of the onslaught, officials said, adding they were monitoring another approaching storm.

China has upped its typhoon preparedness through text messaging and notices on social media.

In Fujian, more than 400,000 people had been moved to safety, hundreds of ships returned to ports and transportation suspended.

Businesses and summer school classes were also shut down and the public was urged to stay indoors.

In the city of Quanzhou, the roof of a sports stadium was partially torn off, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

After hitting the coast, most typhoons tend to lose strength while moving into the mountainous interior of southeastern China, although they sometimes linger over areas, dropping heavy rain.

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