China and taiwan lashed by year’s first typhoon, record rains forecast

SHANGHAI: China’s 1st typhoon of the year brought gales plus rain to the southern shores on Saturday (Jul 2), as forecasters cautioned of record rainfall and high disaster risk in provinces including Guangdong, the particular country’s most populous.

Typhoon Chaba, the Thailänder name for the hibiscus flower, was relocating northwest at 15kmh to 20kmh after the eye of the surprise made landfall in Guangdong’s Maoming town on Saturday afternoon, the National Meteorological Center said within a statement.

Chaba, though medium within intensity and anticipated to lose strength as time passes, is likely to bring extremely heavy rains and may even break the report for cumulative rain fall as it pulls the monsoon rain belt in the region inland, mentioned Gao Shuanzhu, the particular centre’s chief forecaster.

“The plentiful monsoon water vapour will lead to extreme downpours and massive cumulative rainfall of an extreme nature, ” Gao said, predicting up to 600mm of cumulative rainfall in some areas.

At risk are the west of Guangdong, where China’s typhoons usually stick around, the east associated with Guangxi autonomous area and the island state of Hainan, along with rainstorms causing landslides, urban waterlogging and floods, Gao said.

Hainan improved its emergency response to Level II, the particular second-highest, on Saturday. It suspended train service across the isle and cancelled a lot more than 400 flights to and from the cities of Haikou and Sanya.