Typhoon Gaemi forces evacuation of 300,000 in China

Typhoon Gaemi led to the evacuation of nearly 300,000 people and disrupted transportation in eastern and southern China. The typhoon resulted in five fatalities on the nearby island of Taiwan, marking the most severe typhoon to hit the island in eight years, with winds reaching 190 km/h. In Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second-largest city, water channels turned into actual rivers due to the storm. In the Philippines, the typhoon exacerbated monsoon rains, causing floods and landslides that killed 20 people. After making landfall on mainland China on Thursday evening, the typhoon weakened, but heavy rains continued to fall across vast areas of the south and east. In Fujian province, more than 290,000 people were evacuated due to flood fears. Transport services, schools, markets, and public services were suspended in some towns. In Zhejiang province, near Shanghai, residents waded through knee-deep water, clearing bicycles and uprooted trees from flooded streets, according to reports from China Central Television (CCTV). Wenzhou, a large city, issued a red storm alert and evacuated more than 7,000 people. Heavy rains are also expected in the central provinces of Jiangxi and Henan, with no injuries reported so far. In Guangdong province, some railway lines were disrupted by the typhoon. Source: Bahrain News Agency