Typhoon Gaemi forces evacuation of nearly 300,000 in eastern China - VIDEO

Authorities in eastern China evacuated nearly 300,000 people and suspended public transport on Friday as Typhoon Gaemi unleashed torrential rains, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

The storm, which caused five deaths in Taiwan, was the most powerful typhoon to hit the island in eight years, leading to severe flooding in its second-largest city.

Before reaching Taiwan, Typhoon Gaemi intensified seasonal rains in the Philippines, resulting in flooding and landslides that claimed 30 lives, according to police reports.

A tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of oil sank off Manila on Thursday, prompting urgent efforts to offload the cargo and prevent an environmental disaster.

By the time it made landfall in China's Fujian province on Thursday, the typhoon had weakened, according to state media.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered under successive heatwaves.

The country is by far the world's largest emitter of the greenhouse gases scientists say are driving climate change and making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

Chinese authorities warned Typhoon Gaemi was bringing with it torrential rains that could cause flooding.

They have relocated more than 290,000 people in Fujian and shut down public transport, offices, schools and markets in some cities.

In neighbouring Zhejiang province, footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV Friday showed streets turned into rivers, trees strewn over roads and bikes struggling through knee-high waters.

The province's Wenzhou city -- home to nine million people -- has issued its highest warning for rainstorms and evacuated nearly 7,000 people, CCTV said.

The typhoon will also bring heavy rainfall to central Jiangxi and Henan, state media said

In #Taiwan, more than 200 people were injured due to #TyphoonGaemi pic.twitter.com/G5zjYxEq6q

— News.Az (@news_az) July 25, 2024

News.Az