Typhoon “Doksuri” slams China with record rains after lashing Taiwan and leaving 41 dead in the Philippines
Typhoon Doksuri, which struck the Philippines, Taiwan, and China from July 26 to 29, 2023, resulted in significant damage, displacements, and fatalities. The storm left 41 dead in the Philippines before lashing Taiwan and making landfall in mainland China, causing widespread evacuations, record-breaking rainfall, and severe economic losses.
Doksuri made its presence felt in the northern Philippine coastline on July 25 and 26, 2023. It caused riverbanks to burst, low-lying villages to flood, and triggered dozens of landslides, ultimately resulting in the displacement of thousands and the death of 41 people. Notably, 27 of these fatalities resulted from a passenger ship capsizing. Even as the country grappled with the aftermath, around 20 people, including four coastguard personnel involved in a rescue mission, remained missing.
The storm, though slightly weakened, moved toward Taiwan on July 27, where the weather bureau issued wind and rain warnings for the southern part of the island. This included the major port city of Kaohsiung, which saw businesses and schools close and landslide warnings issued. All domestic flights were suspended while a few international ones were cancelled, and railway services between southern and eastern Taiwan ceased operation.
As a precaution, over 4 000 people were evacuated, most of them in mountainous southern and eastern Taiwan where nearly 700 mm (27.5 inches) of rainfall was recorded in certain areas. Moreover, the storm led to power outages for more than 15 700 households, although most had since been restored.
Doksuri then approached mainland China, making landfall in Jinjiang, Fujian province around 02:00 UTC on July 28. It arrived with wind speeds of up to 175 km/h (110 mph), affecting about 1.45 million people in coastal Fujian. In response, over 416 000 people were evacuated and resettled, causing over 3 billion yuan in direct economic losses according to state media reports. Doksuri was reportedly the strongest typhoon to hit Fujian since 2016.
The 24-hour rainfall in downtown Fuzhou, one of the largest cities in Fujian province, reached 340 mm (13.4 inches), setting a new record and resulting in widespread floods. The provincial record was also broken in Putian, Fujian where 756 mm (29.8 inches) of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours. In just one hour, Putian was hit by 135 mm (5.3 inches) of rand. In Xiamen, a major port city on the Taiwan Strait, significant flooding and damage, including a ripped-off bus station roof, were observed.
As the typhoon continued to move northwest into northern China, bringing heavy rainfall along its path, even Beijing found itself preparing for an amount of rainfall equivalent to its annual average in just a few days.
On July 29, sports events were suspended and several tourist spots and parks were shut. The city’s flood control department mobilised 203 230 rescue personnel and evacuated 3 031 people according to local media reports.
As recovery efforts continue, the true scale of Doksuri’s impact is yet to be fully understood.
References:
1 Typhoon Doksuri batters China with high winds and rain – AFP – July 28, 2023
2 Beijing evacuates thousands as Doksuri pummels northern China – Al Jazeera – July 29, 2023
3 China issues multiple disaster alerts for mountain torrents, floods, waterlogging – Xinhua – July 29, 2023
Featured image: Typhoon “Doksuri” at 02:00 UTC on July 28, 2023. Credit: JMA/Himawari-9, ZoomEarth, The Watchers
Thank you for this report – for ‘a weather channel’ marginalized the damage, saying that ‘Doksuri’ had been downgraded to a tropical depression – with no reports of such real damage.