Typhoon Narra has brought record flood waters to southern China, submerging homes and prompting mass evacuations. Authorities in Chongzuo, Guangxi region, have evacuated over 15,000 people after water levels surpassed a record high set in 2008. The region is famous for its giant waterfalls and karst limestone mountains.
Rising flood waters have prompted China to relocate a total of 54,000 people in Guangxi, state television reported. Narra made landfall as a tropical storm on Tuesday evening in China’s southern island province of Hainan after lingering over the Beibu Gulf for several days, dumping heavy rain on Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong. Heavy rain is expected to persist across parts of Vietnam and southern China through Wednesday, with areas of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, and Fujian forecast to receive torrential rain, state media said.
In Chongzuo, river water overflowed into the city, with water levels reaching the rooftops of some buildings and power lines. A notice from Chongzuo authorities on Monday ordered all businesses and tourist operations to cease and urged evacuated residents not to return to high-risk areas. Meanwhile, medium-strength Typhoon Saudel is moving towards southern Japan and northern Taiwan, where it is expected to bring sporadic heavy rain.
Japan’s weather agency warned of destructive winds and high seas as Typhoon Saudel approached the south-western islands of Okinawa prefecture. Saudel is expected to pass to the north of Taiwan starting late Thursday and into Friday, though its intensity is forecast to gradually weaken, the island’s Central Weather Administration said. However, there is uncertainty about the timing and extent of the typhoon’s rainfall impact.
Saudel is forecast to hit the coast in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian from late Thursday to early Friday. In southern and eastern Taiwan, the government reported one person dead and four missing from a tropical depression that brought flooding in the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to more than 4 million people. Almost a meter of rain fell in Kaohsiung during the three days from Sunday to Tuesday, exceeding rainfall during 2009’s devastating Typhoon Morakot that killed about 700 people and caused damage of up to $3bn.
An image from the affected area can be seen at https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4e4c0279d9240eb0fc5ee3ff5d70e8472165a35d/0_0_2048_1365/master/2048.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none.
