25-7-2024 (TAIPEI) Typhoon Gaemi, the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, has left a trail of destruction in its wake after barreling through the island’s northern regions on Thursday, July 25th. The powerful typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227 kilometers per hour (141 mph) before weakening, claimed two lives, injured hundreds, and caused widespread flooding and traffic chaos.
The ferocious storm made landfall around midnight on Thursday in Yilan County, located on Taiwan’s northeastern coast. As of 8:30 a.m. local time, Gaemi had traversed the Taiwan Strait and was headed toward Fuzhou in China’s Fujian province, where it is expected to bring further torrential rainfall.
In the aftermath of the typhoon’s passage, Taiwanese authorities reported two fatalities and 266 injuries, while local television stations broadcasted harrowing images of inundated streets across numerous cities and counties. The impact of the storm has been far-reaching, prompting the closure of offices, schools, and financial markets for a second consecutive day on Thursday.
Transportation networks have been severely disrupted, with trains, including the high-speed rail line connecting northern and southern Taiwan, suspended until 3 p.m. Additionally, all domestic flights and 185 international flights have been canceled for the day, as the island braces for potential aftereffects and residual rainfall.
While Gaemi has weakened since making landfall, its remnants are expected to continue bringing heavy precipitation across Taiwan, exacerbating the already precarious situation on the ground.
As the storm system moves inland toward China, authorities in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have raised advisories and warnings in anticipation of heavy rainfall and potential flooding. Chinese weather forecasters predict that Gaemi will gradually lose intensity as it tracks northward, but its passage through these coastal regions could still bring significant precipitation.
Meanwhile, northern China is grappling with a separate weather system, prompting authorities in the capital Beijing to issue a red warning for torrential rain expected to persist throughout most of Thursday. According to Chinese state media reports, the Beijing Fangshan District Meteorological Observatory anticipates that by 10 a.m., many parts of the city could receive more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rainfall within six hours, with some areas potentially experiencing over 200 millimeters (8 inches) in 24 hours.
