Doksuri lashes Fujian; thousands displaced

Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in the coastal city of Jinjiang in Fujian province at 9:55 am on Friday, with wind speeds of up to 175 kilometers per hour snapping power lines and leaving heavy rain in its wake.

The storm, the strongest to hit Fujian since Typhoon Meranti in 2016, has forced schools and businesses to shut, and workers to leave construction sites. The typhoon has affected around 725,000 people in the province.

The National Meteorological Center said most of southeastern regions can expect heavy rainfall through Friday — up to 27 centimeters in some areas.

Doksuri had earlier battered Taiwan province and the Philippines.

"After it entered the Taiwan Strait, the spinning storm narrowed considerably, indicating that its energy had become more concentrated within a core area spanning about 100 or 200 kilometers. The destructive power of the core area is formidable, so everyone needs to remain vigilant," said Chen Jinpeng, deputy director of the Zhangzhou Meteorological Center.

The China Meteorological Administration said hourly rainfall in Xiamen, Quanzhou and Putian had exceeded 50 millimeters, and the emergency response status had been raised to Level I, the country's highest.

The typhoon is expected to move in a northwesterly direction, gradually weakening in intensity, the CMA said, adding that 10 provinces were likely to experience heavy rain.

Videos on social media platforms showed toppled trees and damaged buildings in Quanzhou and Xiamen, as well as people trapped and injured in the storm. In the port city of Quanzhou, 39 people suffered minor injuries, while more than 500,000 homes lost power.

Quanzhou and Zhangzhou halted industrial activity, production, market trading and classes. The Fujian Maritime Bureau said four professional rescue helicopters, five rescue ships and 28 marine rescue volunteer teams had been placed on emergency standby.

Meanwhile, 617 scenic spots and 5,836 construction sites in the province have been closed.

Fuzhou Changle International Airport canceled more than 50 flights on Thursday.

As the intensity of the storm eased, the Fujian Maritime Bureau lowered its typhoon defense response from Level I to Level III at 5 pm on Friday.

In Guangdong province, three rescue teams were dispatched to coastal areas and assigned responsibility for monitoring, forecasting and issuing early warnings.

Guangdong Power Grid Co said it had deployed 157 personnel and 53 repair vehicles to ensure the safe operation of power transmission equipment.

As Doksuri weakened after making landfall in Fujian, neighboring Guangdong province began to gradually resume railway services. Up to 52 trains along the Shenzhen-Hangzhou line — which were running within Guangdong — have resumed services, according to its operator China Railway Guangzhou Group.

A total of 124,400 people have been evacuated and resettled on the Chinese mainland so far.

On Thursday and Friday, the storm cut electricity supply to more than 278,000 homes across Taiwan province, while in the Philippines, it left at least 39 people dead, including dozens on a boat that capsized.

Qiu Quanlin in Guangzhou contributed to this story.