“HEAVY RAINS”
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.
Guangdong, China’s most populous province, suspended some passenger train services on Friday ahead of the typhoon’s expected arrival, CCTV said.
Citing the official China Weather Network, the broadcaster said the typhoon was moving northwestward at about 20kmh.
It will “gradually weaken” as it makes its way to Jiangxi on Friday late afternoon, it said.
No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.
The north of the country has this week also been hit by showers, with state media saying on Friday that heavy rains had killed one and left three missing in the northwestern province of Gansu.
At a meeting of the country’s top leadership chaired by President Xi Jinping on Thursday, officials urged local authorities to stay “highly vigilant and proactive” as the country entered peak flooding season.
