Typhoon Fung Wong

Typhoon Fung Wong hit land in China’s Fujian province on Tuesday, causing the evacuation of 751,600 people as 200mm of rain was forecast in the space of 24 hours.

The Fujian flood control department put the damage from Fung Wong at US$146m. Some 112,000ha of farmland were flooded, over 1,500 houses were destroyed and several people have been killed.

The typhoon spread a trail of damage up and down China’s coastal areas, also hitting Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces.

The storm ripped through Taiwan only a few days before, and winds of up to 119kph damaged 11,663ha of farmland, causing around US$89m in damage to crops and fruits, according to an early assessment by Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture.

The crops hardest hit in Taiwan were pomelos, bananas, watermelons and guavas. 926ha of pomelo fields were hit, according to the China Post, resulting in average crop losses of 37 per cent.

Fung Wong is the eighth tropical storm to hit China this year, and meteorologists warn it could still cause heavy rains as it moves towards Anhui and Shandong provinces.