This handout photo from Yilan County Government taken and released on November 12, 2025, shows a man pushing his bike in a mud covered street in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fung-Wong in Su’ao Township.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Typhoon slammed into Taiwan on July 24 night, bringing Category 3 winds and heavy rain that triggered widespread flooding across the island.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

More than 27,000 people in Northeast China were evacuated and hundreds of factories were ordered to suspend production as Typhoon Gaemi brought heavy rains, the official Xinhua news agency reported on July 27.

Gaemi lashed towns on China’s coastal Fujian province on July 26 with heavy rains and strong winds as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year began its widely watched trek from the Southeastern coast into the populous interior.

The storm, which killed dozens as it swept through Taiwan and worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, has affected almost 630,000 people in China’s Fujian province, with almost half of them being relocated, Xinhua has reported.

Also Read: Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 mn litres of oil capsizes off Manila

Heavy rains caused water levels to rise in 40 reservoirs across Liaoning province, the area is expected to experience torrential rain for the next few days, the report said.

Hundreds of chemical and mining companies across the province have suspended operations and nearby residents have been relocated to avoid flood risks, Xinhua said.

Residents of Manila occupy a basketball court as their homes were flooded by Typhoon Gaemi on July 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Authorities evacuated nearly 300,000 people and suspended public transport across eastern China on July 26, as Typhoon Gaemi brought torrential rains already responsible for five deaths in nearby Taiwan.

Gaemi was the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years when it made landfall on July 25, flooding parts of the island’s second-biggest city.

It also exacerbated seasonal rains in the Philippines on its path to Taiwan, triggering flooding and landslides that killed 20 people.

A tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of oil sank off Manila on July 25, with authorities racing to contain a fuel spill.

It had weakened by the time it made landfall in China’s eastern Fujian province shortly before 8:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) on July 25, state media said.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered under successive heatwaves.

The country is by far the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are driving climate change and making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

Heavy rains

Chinese authorities warned Typhoon Gaemi was bringing with it torrential rains that could cause flooding.

They have relocated more than 290,000 people in Fujian and shut down public transport, offices, schools and markets in some cities.

In neighbouring Zhejiang province, footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV Friday showed streets turned into rivers, trees strewn over roads and bikes struggling through knee-high waters.

The province’s Wenzhou city — home to nine million people — has issued its highest warning for rainstorms and evacuated nearly 7,000 people, CCTV said.

The typhoon will also bring heavy rainfall to central Jiangxi and Henan, state media said.

Guangdong, China’s most populous province, suspended some passenger train services on July 26 ahead of the typhoon’s expected arrival, CCTV said.

Citing the official China Weather Network, the broadcaster said the typhoon was moving northwestward at about 20 kilometres per hour.

It will “gradually weaken” as it makes its way to Jiangxi on July 26 in the late afternoon, it said.

No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.

The north of the country has this week also been hit by showers, with state media saying Friday that heavy rains had killed one and left three missing in the northwestern province of Gansu.

At a meeting of the country’s top leadership chaired by President Xi Jinping on July 25, officials urged local authorities to stay “highly vigilant and proactive” as the country entered peak flooding season.

A man looks on while standing near a damaged food cart after Typhoon Koinu passed the southern tip of Taiwan, in Kenting, Taiwan on October 5, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Typhoon Koinu swept southern Taiwan on October 5, killing one person and injuring more than 300 as it brought pounding rain and record-breaking winds to the island, leading to school and office closures.

One person was killed by flying glass in the central city of Taichung and at least 304 were injured around the island, Taiwan’s fire department said. Gusts of wind downed trees and caused damage to some buildings.

Koinu, which means “puppy” in Japanese, made landfall early October 5 in Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, and is expected to weaken as it moves west toward the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of southern China.

Also Read: Hong Kong flooded by heaviest rainfall in 140 years

The typhoon brought the fastest wind ever recorded in Taiwan as it approached on October 4 night.

A weather monitoring station on the outlying Orchid Island, southeast of the main island, measured a gust of 342.7 kph (212.9 mph) at 9:53 pm, as well as sustained winds that reached 198.7 kph (123.5 kph) at 9:40 pm. Both values set all-time highs since Taiwan began keeping records of wind speeds in 1897, said Huang Chia-mei, head of the Central Weather Administration’s Taitung Weather Station, according to the official Central News Agency.

The device measuring the wind speeds broke shortly afterward, Huang said.

Images shared on social media from Orchid Island showed buildings with broken windows and boats sunk in a harbour.

On October 5 evening, Koinu’s maximum sustained winds measured 137 kph (85 mph) with gusts of 173 kph (107 mph).

The heaviest rain fell in the east-coast counties of Taitung and Hualien, and in the mountainous Pingtung county in the south.

Cities across the island cancelled work and classes, including the major southern port city of Kaohsiung. The capital, Taipei, in the north, was operating as normal.

Most domestic flights and dozens of international flights were cancelled, according to the transportation ministry, while ferries to outlying islands were also suspended.

Despite weakening, typhoon Koinu is expected to douse coastal areas of southern China over the weekend. The city of Guangzhou cancelled some flights and trains starting October 6, while its maritime authorities issued a Level 4 alert — the least severe in a four-tier system, calling for caution.

In Fujian province, bordering the Taiwan Strait, authorities suspended 137 passenger ferry trips.

Taiwan sits in an active region for tropical cyclones, but Koinu is only the second typhoon to make landfall in four years. Typhoon Haikui hit the island in early September, injuring dozens.