BEIJING: Typhoon Doksuri slammed into southeast China on Friday morning, bringing strong winds and torrential rain to coastal areas after the deadly typhoon from the Philippines bypassed Taiwan.
Wind speeds were recorded at 175 kilometers per hour as the typhoon hit the coast of Fujian province around 10:00 a.m. (0200 GMT), China's state broadcaster CCTV said. Fears of possible danger to residents and destruction of property led the National Weather Service to renew the most severe "red alert" in its four-level system on Friday.
"More than 416,000 people in Fujian have been evacuated to safer places," state news agency Xinhua reported. In Xiamen, a major port city on the Taiwan Strait, severe weather tore off the roof of a bus station and pushed it against a nearby sign.
Some streets in the city were strewn with fallen trees, while in other places heavy flooding blocked traffic and sent police to the scene.
Photos shared on social media showed high winds blowing over residential tower blocks on Friday in Jinjiang, a county-level urban area south of the city of Guangzhou. Live CCTV footage showed a reporter wading through flooded streets littered with downed trees, warning viewers in the area to stay indoors except in emergencies.
Videos of huge waves crashing on embankments and strong winds blowing through urban areas were posted by the state-backed People's Daily on social media platform Weibo
Powerful Typhoon Doksuri is expected to continue moving northwestward over central China as its intensity gradually weakens. But Xinhua reported that typhoon-level winds would affect "coastal areas of Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong" by 8:00 a.m. Saturday.
China's National Meteorological
Center also renewed the orange alert for rainstorms in large parts of the
country on Friday, which is in effect from 2:00 p.m. Friday to 2:00 p.m.
Saturday.
