Typhoon Rammasun strikes South China

Super typhoon Rammasun, the strongest to hit South China since 1973, made landfall in Wenchang, South China's Hainan Province on Friday afternoon, and continued to ravage Guangdong Province on Friday evening.

According to the National Meteorological Center, the typhoon landed in Wenchang packing rainstorms and winds of up to 60 meters per second and the lowest central atmospheric pressure dropped to 910 hectopascals.

The meteorological center forecast that some of the coastal areas in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region would have to sustain gales and heavy rainstorms until Sunday. The rainfall is expected to surpass 600 millimeters in some of the regions.

The center is warning against possible geological disasters including landslides and mudslides in Yunnan Province and Hainan, and water logging in farmland as well as in-city surface water logging in Hainan, southwestern Guangdong and southern Guangxi.

Although more than 198,000 fishermen and residents in areas in possible danger in Hainan had been evacuated by 8 am Friday, around 1,300 people were trapped in rural Wenchang soon after the typhoon landed, according to the Hainan provincial command center for flood prevention, drought control and typhoon response. At least one person died in Wenchang, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Hainan provincial tourism authority issued an urgent circular on Friday and Guangdong provincial authorities put their emergency response system at the highest level.

Typhoon Rammasun is expected to land in Guangxi early on Saturday morning. "This is possibly the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Guangxi since 1949," said Zhang Ling, chief forecaster at the Typhoon and Marine Forecast Center of the China Meteorological Administration.

The typhoon had killed 64 and injured another 100-plus in the Philippines by Friday since it made landfall there Tuesday night.
 By Ni Dandan Source:Global Times 
19/7/14
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Related:

• Rammasun strengthens to super typhoon

• Beijing prepares for more wild weather...

• Central and Southwest China: Concern for ancient buildings after floods 

• Typhoon Rammasun leaves at least 27 dead in Philippines

• Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital, triggers mass evacuations 

Rammasun strengthens to super typhoon

HAIKOU, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Rammasun has strengthened to a super typhoon and is expected to make landfall in south China's island province of Hainan or coastal area of Guangdong Province on Friday afternoon, Hainan provincial meteorological station said on Friday.

Rammasun packing rainstorms and winds of up to 180 km per hour, is moving northwest at a speed of 20 to 25 km per hour and will probably land in Qionghai City of Hainan or Dianbai District, Maoming City of Guangdong, according to the station's forecast.

The super typhoon is expected to be the strongest that Hainan Province has witnessed in 40 years. 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-07/18/c_133493184.htm

18/7/14

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Related:

• Central and Southwest China: Concern for ancient buildings after floods 

• Typhoon Rammasun leaves at least 27 dead in Philippines

• Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital, triggers mass evacuations 

Central and Southwest China: Concern for ancient buildings after floods

Concerns have been raised over the protection of historic towns as persistent downpours in Central and Southwest China have flooded Fenghuang, a renowned tourism destination in Hunan Province.

More than 120,000 people were relocated amid power cuts in Fenghuang on Wednesday.

The rain, however, has begun to slacken and water levels in Fenghuang have dropped, with many people returning to their homes on Thursday.

Electricity along the Tuojiang River, which runs through Fenghuang, has not been restored, although water supplies to parts of the town have been brought back online, a staff member of Fenghuang's flood prevention office surnamed Gao told the Global Times.

Reconstruction work formally started on Thursday, Gao said. No casualties had been reported as of press time.

Pictures of Fenghuang submerged by floodwaters have aroused worries among netizens and experts on ancient architecture.

Yang Zhi, owner of a traditional inn alongside the Tuojiang River, told the Global Times that everything in his inn had been washed away by floods and estimated his losses at more than 200,000 yuan ($32,234).

He blamed the government for inaccurate warning by saying that the water level of the Tuojiang River would only hit 1.5 meters above normal. The river eventually crested at 3 meters over its normal level, "So people were not prepared."

Many traditional buildings, some dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), were made of wood and stone and could be severely damaged by floods, Zhu Qiuli, an expert with the National Architecture Institute of China, told the Global Times.

Old towns have drainage problems and the Fenghuang  government obviously did not realize that the buildings need protection from water in such a rainy region, Zhu said.

It is also a warning for other old town governments, he added.

Wu Rucheng, director of the flood prevention office, admitted that excessive development along the river bank has changed the river's profile, making it more prone to serious flooding.

Fenghuang is currently being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Status.

Other parts of Hunan Province were also hit by severe rains. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, more than 8 million people across seven provinces including Hunan were affected by the rainstorms which started on July 10.

A total of 34 people died in the flooding, while 21 remain missing. Some 400,000 people were relocated and 9,300 houses collapsed, while 384,300 hectares of crops were damaged, incurring a direct economic loss of more than 5.2 billion yuan.

• Rainstorms are also expected in Hainan Province as Typhoon Rammasun makes landfall in South China on Friday. 

By Liu Sha Source:Global Times Published: 2014-7-18  
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Related:

• Ancient town under water as downpours hit central China

Typhoon Rammasun leaves at least 27 dead in Philippines

MANILA: The death toll from the first typhoon of the Philippines' rainy season climbed to at least 27 on Thursday, authorities said, as millions in the capital and elsewhere endured a second day without power.

As Typhoon Rammasun moved further towards southern China, streets across Manila remained littered with fallen trees, branches and electrical posts while repairmen struggled to restore power services.

The head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Alexander Pama, said that his agency had confirmed 20 fatalities as of late Wednesday, but he expected the death toll to rise with more reports coming in.


"Most of the deaths were hit by falling trees, primarily by debris," Pama told ABS-CBN television.

The council listed five people missing and seven injured. Governors of provinces outside Manila said they had recorded seven other deaths not yet on the council's total.

The typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Tuesday before crossing over the main island of Luzon and then moving westward out to the South China Sea by the middle of Wednesday. 
AFP
[timesofindia.indiatimes.com]
17/7/4
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• Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital, triggers mass evacuations

• Typhoon kills 10 in Philippines, shuts Manila, cuts power, prompts evacuations...

• VIDEO. Philippines : Haiyan, "le typhon le plus puissant jamais connu"./Officials say death toll in Leyte province expected to be as high as 10,000

• Vers des cyclones plus violents et pluvieux .

Typhoon shuts down Philippine capital, triggers mass evacuations

MANILA - Philippine authorities evacuated almost 150,000 people from their homes and shuttered financial markets, government offices, businesses and schools on Wednesday as typhoon Rammasun gathered strength and hit the capital, Manila.
The typhoon, the strongest to hit the country this year, has already torn through eastern islands, toppling trees and power lines and causing blackouts. On Wednesday, it brought storm surges to the Manila Bay area and prompted disaster officials to evacuate slum-dwellers on the capital's outskirts.

"The wind is very strong, stronger than the rains. It's something that I've never experienced in the past," Mark Leviste, vice governor of Batangas province south of the capital, said in a radio interview.

• Parts of the Philippines are still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan, one of the biggest cyclones known to have made landfall anywhere. It killed more than 6,100 people last November in the central provinces, many in tsunami-like sea surges, and left millions homeless.

Typhoon Rammasun was gusting up to 185 kph (115 mph) on Wednesday with sustained winds of 150 kph (93 mph) near its centre.
A 25-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a falling electricity pole as Rammasun entered the country's eastern coast on Tuesday, the Philippine disaster agency said.
Nearly 150,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in low-lying and coastal areas. More than 60 international and domestic flights have been cancelled over the past two days.
Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange and Philippine Dealing System, used for foreign exchange trading, were suspended after government offices were ordered shut.
Tropical Storm Risk rated Rammasun as a category-three typhoon, on a scale of one to five where five is the most severe. It is expected to bring heavy to intense rainfall of up to 30 mm per hour within its 500-km (300-mile) radius.
Rammasun was expected to bring storm surges of up to three metres (10 feet) in coastal villages, the weather bureau said. REUTERS
http://www.todayonline.com/world/typhoon-shuts-down-philippine-capital-triggers-mass-evacuations
16/7/14
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Related:

• VIDEO. Philippines : Haiyan, "le typhon le plus puissant jamais connu"./Officials say death toll in Leyte province expected to be as high as 10,000

• Vers des cyclones plus violents et pluvieux .