BEIJING (AP) — Typhoon Gaemi weakened to a severe tropical storm shortly after making landfall on the east coast overnight and was heading toward inland China on Friday.
The storm downed trees, flooded roads and damaged crops in China, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or major damage. Five people were killed in Taiwan, Passing through Gaemi with typhoon strength It will depart international waters for China on Thursday.
But the deadliest death toll was in the Philippines, which passed earlier but was not hit directly by Typhoon Gaemi, where authorities said on Friday the death toll had risen steadily to 34. The storm exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding and leaving people stranded on their roofs as surrounding waters rose.
China
Gaemi weakened to a severe tropical storm after making landfall off the coast of Fujian province on Thursday evening but is expected to move northwestward over the next few days, bringing heavy rains across Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.
About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province, causing economic losses estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. The storm forced more than 290,000 people to evacuate.
Days of heavy rains in Gansu province this week left one person dead and three people missing in the country’s northwest, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Taiwan
Residents and business owners swept away mud and mopped up water on Friday after severe flooding in parts of southern and central Taiwan swept cars and scooters into the streets.
Five people were killed, several by falling trees and one whose home was hit by a landslide, and more than 650 were injured, according to the emergency response center.
President Lai Ching-te, who visited the hard-hit southern city of Kaohsiung, praised the city for improving flood control measures since a 2009 typhoon brought similar rainfall and killed 681 people, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
Lai announced cash payments of NT$20,000 ($610) to households in areas severely affected by the floods.
Philippines
At least 34 people have died in the Philippines, mainly from floods and landslides caused by days of monsoon rains that were intensified as Typhoon Karina passed over the archipelago’s east coast.
Police said the deaths included 11 residents of Metro Manila, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs or upper floors of their homes, while others drowned or were electrocuted in flooded areas.
Earlier this week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Ordered authorities They called for speeding up deliveries of food and other aid to isolated rural areas, saying people may not have eaten for days.
The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were exhumed on Wednesday after a landslide buried a shack in the rural mountain town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.
