&w=3840&q=100)
China braces for heavy rains as Podul makes landfall in southern provinces
AP Taipei
China braced Thursday for heavy rains as Tropical Storm Podul made landfall in several southern provinces and thousands of people were evacuated.
Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces were the focus of the preparation efforts, but alarms were at a relatively low level given the storm's loss of strength as it passed over Taiwan on Wednesday.
About 15,000 people had been evacuated from seaside areas in southern China as of Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Podul made landfall shortly after midnight on Thursday in Fujian classified as a tropical storm downgraded from a typhoon and it has also triggered alarms in inland Hunan province, which is home to several lakes and rivers that often overflow.
In Guangdong's Chaozhou city, classes and some government functions were suspended, while court proceedings were suspended in Hong Kong after it raised its highest rainstorm warning.
The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm was moving away from the partially autonomous city, but that its outer edge was bringing squalls. Citizens were advised to stay away from the shoreline.
There were no initial reports of casualties or damage in southern China.
Southern Taiwan was cleaning up after the storm made landfall on Wednesday on the east coast counties of Taitung and Hualien before travelling out into the Taiwan Strait about five hours later.
On the self-governing island, one person was swept out to sea, about 100 people were injured and 8,000 evacuated to shelters. Electric company workers moved swiftly to restore power following complaints over a slow response following earlier storms.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
Erin turns deadly — tropical storm becomes Category 5 hurricane overnight, rains loom and here's what you need to do
Synopsis Hurricane Erin, the first of the 2025 Atlantic season, quickly became a Category 5 storm. Though it is expected to stay offshore, islands like Puerto Rico and the Bahamas are preparing for impact. The rapid intensification, linked to climate change, worries forecasters. Coastal areas of the US East Coast may face dangerous conditions. Emergency preparations are underway in affected regions. AP This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Erin on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Pakistan floods claim over 300 lives in 48 hours as monsoon rains wreak havoc: 10 points
Sudden floods triggered by torrential rains have killed more than 300 people across Pakistan, authorities said Saturday, as entire villages in the mountainous north-west were devastated. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported at least 321 deaths in the last 48 hours, with 307 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Nine fatalities were recorded in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and five in Gilgit-Baltistan. Weeks of relentless monsoon rains, massive landslides and raging floodwaters have torn through the region since early June, sweeping away entire neighbourhoods and leaving homes in ruins. Rescue workers said more than ten villages were reduced to rubble in Buner district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Many residents remain missing as washed-out roads and landslides blocked access. More than 30 homes in the village were swept away. The district situated north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was the worst-hit, with 184 confirmed killed so far, Reuters reported. Rescue workers and local residents search for bodies of victims of Friday's flash flooding through the rubble of damaged houses at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Over 120 bodies have been recovered from this area alone so far. Just a few days ago, there was a vibrant, living community here. Now, there's nothing but heaps of large rocks and debris,' Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for Rescue 122, told CNN. In Salarzai, a subdivision of Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, one of the worst-hit areas, locals described the flooding as apocalyptic. 'When the rain intensified, it wasn't long before I felt as if an earthquake had struck — the whole ground was shaking,' said Farhad Ali, a student, CNN reported. Rescuers and local residents use heavy machinery to recover bodies during a rescue operation at the site of a massive cloudburst that led to flash flooding, in Salarzai, in Bajaur district, in northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Qyass Khan) 'In the pouring rain, my entire family ran outside, and we saw a torrent of mud and massive boulders rushing through the stream near our house. It felt like doomsday had arrived, with scenes straight out of the end of the world.' AFP reported villagers gathered for funeral prayers in a paddock, weeping over bodies covered in blankets as excavators dug through mud-soaked hills. Around 2,000 rescue workers have been deployed across nine districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, but officials say relief operations remain extremely difficult. The provincial government has designated the hardest-hit mountainous districts — Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram — as disaster zones. 'Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,' Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesperson for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency, told AFP. Rescue workers transport the body of a victim of Friday's flash flooding after recovering it from the rubble of a damaged house at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions. They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.' Separately, five crew members died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when a helicopter crashed during relief efforts, a provincial official confirmed. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rain alert for the north-west, warning of intensified rainfall from Sunday with the risk of flash floods and urban flooding. Social media videos showed huge torrents of brown water tearing through villages. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Friday to review rescue operations after what officials described as one of the deadliest cloudbursts in recent years. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said civilian and military teams were leading rescue and relief efforts, while the prime minister had convened an emergency meeting to review the crisis. Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah told Reuters that local officials had been deployed to the worst-hit areas to oversee operations and assess damage. He said medical camps were being set up for survivors, alongside arrangements to provide food to families who had lost their homes. The monsoon season in South Asia provides three-quarters of annual rainfall, but this year's rains began earlier and are expected to last longer, said Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah of the NDMA. 'The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,' he told AFP. A boy sits in front of shops damaged by Friday's flash flooding on the outskirts of Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) The NDMA says more than 600 people have been killed this monsoon season. In Punjab province, rainfall in July was 73 per cent higher than last year, with more deaths already than the entire 2024 monsoon. Pakistan remains one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people. Pakistan's chief meteorologist Zaheer Babar said the country has witnessed a rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. He told Reuters that heavy rains in the mountains often triggered flash floods downstream, catching people in lower-lying areas off guard. A firefighting department vehicle submerged in a floodwater following flash flooding due to heavy rains in the neighbourhood of Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo) While climate change was a major driver, Babar said the impact had been worsened by homes built alongside rivers and streams, and by waterways constricted due to construction and garbage dumping, which made it harder for rainfall to disperse. Heavy rains have also battered neighbouring India and Nepal over the past week, causing deadly floods and landslides. In Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 reported missing in the pilgrimage town of Chashoti on Friday. In Nepal, 41 people lost their lives and 121 others were injured, according to the country's disaster management authority, cited by Reuters.
News18
6 hours ago
- News18
Erin becomes Category 4 hurricane in Caribbean as region braces for flooding
San Juan (Puerto Rico), Aug 16 (AP) Erin strengthened into a powerful Category 4 hurricane in the Caribbean on Saturday and continues to intensify, the National Hurricane Centre said. The storm is currently 240 kilometres northeast of Anguilla with maximum sustained winds of 230 kph. It is moving west-northwest at 31 kph. It is currently not forecast to hit land, but strong winds are affecting nearby islands, prompting forecasters to warn of possible flooding, landslides and mudslides. The Hurricane Centre said it will eventually swerve away from the continental United States. Tropical storm watches are in place for St Martin, St Barts and St Maarten. 'The outer bands of Erin are expected to produce areas of heavy rainfall through Sunday across the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico," the centre said. The currently 'compact" storm is expected to grow in size in the coming days, resulting in rough ocean waters over the western Atlantic. Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin is forecast to eventually take a sharp turn northeast that would put it on a path between the US and Bermuda. 'All of our best consensus aids show Erin turning safely east of the United States next week, but it'll be a much closer call for Bermuda, which could land on the stronger eastern side of Erin," he said. Protruding US coastal areas — such as North Carolina's Outer Banks, Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts — face a higher risk of direct and potentially severe tropical storm or hurricane conditions than much of the southern Atlantic, mid-Atlantic and northern New England coasts, Accuweather said. Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, but the first to reach hurricane status. This year's season is once again expected to be unusually busy. The forecast calls for six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 177 kph. The US government has deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to Puerto Rico as a precaution as forecasters issued a flood watch for the entire US territory from late Friday into Monday. Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Ciary Perez Pena said 367 shelters have been inspected and could be opened if needed. The US Coast Guard said Friday that it closed six seaports in Puerto Rico and two in the US Virgin Islands to all incoming vessels unless they had received prior authorisation. Meanwhile, officials in the Bahamas said they prepared some public shelters as a precaution as they urged people to track the hurricane. 'These storms are very volatile and can make sudden shifts in movement," said Aarone Sargent, managing director for the Bahamas' disaster risk management authority. (AP) NPK NPK view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
