Southern China has been battered by Hurricane Haikui. Excessive winds and the heaviest rains in recorded historical past have flooded cities like Hong Kong and Shenzhen, injuring a number of individuals and compounding harm already created by final week’s tremendous storm Saola. Although Haikui was downgraded to a tropical melancholy after making landfall, its devastation has been as surprising as the pictures popping out of the area.
One of the crucial unbelievable movies was taken by an eyewitness in southeast Taiwan. It reveals a automobile trying to drive into winds so highly effective that the ahead momentum of the automobile means nothing: The wind pushes it again down the road in reverse.
Hundreds have been evacuated from their houses as water ripped via metropolis streets, washing away automobiles and houses. Video footage shared by Reuters reveals how the roads have change into gushing canals of muddy water:
Different experiences have emerged {that a} firetruck responding to the emergency was swept right into a river in Fujian’s Yongtai county. The 5 crew members onboard are nonetheless lacking. Over one foot of rain fell in simply 24 hours, however the downgrading of Haikui from a storm to a tropical melancholy got here alongside a slowing down of the storm system. Torrential rains have lingered in a area that had already been soaked by Saola, leading to flooding, landslides, collapsed roads, and extra.