Relief efforts underway as Typhoon Yagi hits southern China

Authorities in southern China have stepped up rescue efforts after Super Typhoon Yagi roared ashore bringing strong winds, rains and flooding.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its emergency flood and typhoon response from Level IV to Level III in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday after Yagi made landfall in the neighboring island province of Hainan.

With the typhoon weakening in Guangxi, the local railway operator has carried out inspections and repairs on railroads, and resumed train operations from 15:00 on Saturday on local high-speed railway lines.

In response to the challenges facing Guangxi, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters sent a working group to the province to assist in relief work on Friday.

The working group supported local authorities in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi in allocating 12,500 sets of relief material including tents and emergency lighting to typhoon-hit regions, and organized 2,100 firefighters to prepare for emergency rescue. It also organized the provincial natural resources, housing and construction departments to strengthen inspections of key areas such as dams, reservoirs and locations prone to geological hazards. At the same time, it put 20 professional rescue teams in place in case of emergency.

According to the working group's leader Zhao Zhigang, by 11:00 on Saturday, six cities and 15 counties had been severely impacted by the typhoon, with 60,223 residents affected. He said the local power grid operator had reported that 267,845 users had lost power due to the typhoon, while power supply had been restored to 160,707 users, adding that the power supply department is making every effort to speed up repair work.

Elsewhere, Yagi made a second landfall in Xuwen County, in the city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday evening.

In neighboring Leizhou City rescue workers have been busy clearing fallen trees from roads and fixing damaged fiber-optic cables and base stations.

About 18,000 hectares of farmland in Leizhou, which is a major food producing area in Guangdong, has been affected by the typhoon, with 16,000 hectares of crops, including more than 1,133 hectares of bananas, lost to the storm.

Relief efforts underway as Typhoon Yagi hits southern China

Truck drivers and their cargoes sought refuge in a Shanghai activity hub as Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest typhoon to hit the city in decades, made landfall on Monday morning, unleashing heavy rains and winds exceeding 160 kilometers per hour.

In the Pudong District, situated on the southeastern tip of Shanghai, the impact of Typhoon Bebinca was stark, with trees and road signs uprooted, construction sites disrupted, and bicycles scattered across the ground.

Shanghai is not prone to strong typhoons, but local authorities have made emergency plans.

In Lingang Special Area, an activity hub was transformed into a temporary shelter for over 130 truck drivers and their cargoes.

"With such strong winds, it's not safe to park my truck on the street. Trees could fall. Parking here is a safer choice. The service is good here. It's clean, and it also provides food. We can take a shower here," said Wang Shaodong, a truck driver from east China's Anhui Province.

"The Donghai Bridge has been closed, as the typhoon is approaching. That's why we came here. They provide us with bedding, and air conditioners were turned on. So we are staying here. There are also meals downstairs," said Gong Xiangge, a hazardous cargo driver from east China's Shandong Province.

"We call these truck drivers 'men living on wheels.' The 13th typhoon [of this year] brought gales, with maximum wind speed reaching 36.9 meters per second, so danger may come at any time. So staying on the side of the street is unsafe for both trucks and drivers," said Fan Jianrong, deputy director of Lingang Special Area Investment Holding Group.

Although traffic resumed on all roads and bridges across Shanghai starting from 20:00 on Monday, precautions are still in place as Typhoon Pulasan, the 14th of the year, has formed in the northeastern Pacific and could follow a similar path to Typhoon Bebinca.

The director of the center said that the shelter remains open to those in need, ensuring that assistance is readily available for individuals affected by the poor weather.

Truck drivers seek shelter as powerful typhoon hits Shanghai