Powerful Typhoon Doksuri lashes Philippines, threatens Taiwan, China

MANILA: At least one person died as powerful Typhoon Doksuri lashed the coastline of the northern Philippines with gale-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday (Jul 26), bursting banks of rivers and leaving thousands without electricity.

The rain bands of Doksuri pounded coastal communities, including isolated villages tucked away in tropical forests. Many people had already been pulled to safety ahead of the storm, which brought winds of up to 175kmh. 

“We are being battered here,” Manual Mamba, governor of the northern corn-growing Cagayan province, told Reuters.

The storm, labelled as a super typhoon by China’s Meteorological Administration, is nearly 900km across and is expected to sustain strength as it continues its course towards Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

The agency has already raised its storm alert to the second-highest tier and the manufacturing hub of Guangdong province warned of the worst storm in a decade.

Throughout July, record temperatures have caused havoc across the globe, sparking wildfires in the US and Mediterranean. At the other extreme, scientists say global warming will also make storms wetter, windier and more violent.

In the Philippines, at least one person drowned in the province of Rizal so far, the national disaster agency said.

More than 4,000 passengers were stranded at ports across the country after sea travel was suspended, the Philippine coast guard said.

As of 8am local time, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said in the past three hours the typhoon’s centre was close to hovering and at a standstill.

But China still expects its arrival early on Friday.

Doksuri would be second typhoon to make landfall in the Chinese mainland in less than two weeks after Talim slammed into Guangdong on Jul 17.