Thirty people have been killed and another 35 have gone missing since Typhoon Gaemi made landfall and hit Hunan province, state media reported on Thursday.
The casualties occurred in Zixing city, where 118,000 residents were affected by heavy flooding, mudflows and landslides triggered by the typhoon.
Typhoon Gaemi, which wreaked havoc when it travelled across the Philippines and Taiwan last week, first hit China’s Fujian and Jiangxi provinces last weekend before it moved inland to strike Hunan province, where more than 1.2 million people have been affected.
By Thursday noon, flood-damaged roads and communication facilities in Zixing had been repaired or restored, with search and rescue continuing for the missing, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
“Forces are still working in an intense and orderly manner on the front line, and will make every effort to search for and rescue the missing people and do their best in disaster relief work, following the requirement of not letting go of any glimmer of hope,” the Xinhua report said.
Unprecedented torrential rain brought by Typhoon Gaemi in the past few days has flooded more than 1.5 million mu (100,000 hectares) of farmland in the province.
The National Committee on Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief on Thursday elevated Hunan’s disaster emergency response level to the second highest, Xinhua reported, to better coordinate the relief works and support the local authorities in aiding the affected populace.
Premier Li Qiang arrived on Thursday to inspect the situation and told local officials to “do the best in flood control and disaster relief, and ensure the safety of people’s lives and properties”.
China’s top leadership last week ordered officials to prepare for emergencies as the country faced high risks of flooding in an unusual summer typhoon season.
Including Geami, by the end of July there had been four typhoons generated in the Pacific this year, roughly half compared to average. But three of them made landfall in China, compared with the usual two-and-a-half in an average year.
The National Meteorological Bureau forecasts that two or three more typhoons will hit China in August, and are likely to affect the southern and eastern coast. They might also travel north of the Yangtze River and cause problems to the northern region, not on the usual paths of typhoons.
