BEIJING (AP) — Tropical Storm Gemi moved inland on Saturday after making landfall on China's east coast with typhoon strength Thursday night, bringing rain to central China.
The storm toppled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China, but no casualties or major damage were reported. 8 people died in Taiwan Shangmei crosses the U.S. with typhoon strength Then cross the high seas to China.
However, the worst loss of life occurred in a country that Gemi had passed through earlier but did not directly hit: the Philippines. Local authorities said on Friday that the death toll had risen steadily and reached 34. The typhoon intensified seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding, with surrounding water levels rising and leaving people trapped on rooftops.
China
Gaimei weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on the coast of Fujian province on Thursday night, but it is still expected to bring heavy rain as it moves northwest toward Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces in the coming days.
According to Chinese media reports, approximately 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian Province, with economic losses estimated at 11.5 million yuan (1.6 million U.S. dollars). More than 290,000 people were relocated due to the storm.
Elsewhere in China, days of heavy rain in Gansu province this week left one person dead and three missing in the country's northwest, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Taiwan
Severe flooding hit parts of southern and central Taiwan on Friday, sending cars and motorcycles drifting through the streets as residents and business owners cleared mud and cleared standing water. Some towns are still under waist-deep water.
Eight people died, several hit by falling trees and one hit by a landslide that hit his house. The emergency operations center said more than 850 people were injured and one person was missing.
President Lai Ching-te visited the hard-hit southern city of Kaohsiung on Friday and praised the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought similar amounts of rainfall and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.
Lai announced that cash assistance of NT$20,000 (US$610) would be provided to families in severely flooded areas.
According to the Central News Agency, a cargo ship sank in the waters near Kaohsiung Port during a typhoon, and the captain's body was later fished out of the water. Several other ships were stranded by the storm.
the Philippines
At least 34 people have died in the Philippines, mostly caused by flooding and landslides caused by days of monsoon rains, which intensified as the typhoon, known in the Philippines as Karina, passed along the eastern coast of the Philippine archipelago.
Eleven people were killed in Metro Manila, where massive flooding left people trapped on rooftops and upstairs, police said. Some people drowned or were electrocuted in flooded communities.
Earlier this week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. command authority Efforts to speed up the delivery of food and other aid to remote villages say people may not have eaten for days.
A landslide in the mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province buried a shack on Wednesday and the bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were exhumed.
