Typhoon Gaemi affects around 620,000 people in Fujian

Typhoon Gaemi, the third typhoon of the year, had affected roughly 628,600 people in the Fujian Province in east China as of 6 a.m. on Friday (July 26). Approximately 290,000 residents had already been relocated, according to local authorities.

With a maximum wind speed of 118.8 km per hour at its center, the typhoon made its second landfall in the country on Thursday evening, at Xiuyu District in the city of Putian, Fujian. At 6 a.m. Friday, its center was located within Youxi County, the city of Sanming, packing winds of up to 100.8 km per hour near the center.

The typhoon is projected to move northwest at a speed of about 20 km per hour, with gradually weakening force, and is expected to reach Jiangxi Province around late Friday afternoon.

Affected by the typhoon, from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Friday, 72 townships in 15 county-level areas across Fujian recorded an accumulated precipitation of more than 250 millimeters, and 12 townships in nine county-level areas saw an accumulated precipitation of over 400 millimeters, with the highest reaching 512.8 millimeters, according to local meteorological authorities.

Local authorities said that Gaemi made its first landfall at around midnight Thursday in eastern Taiwan's Yilan County, leaving two dead and 201 injured.