Tropical Storm Podul has unleashed torrential rain across southern China, significantly disrupting daily life and causing extensive damage. After moving through Taiwan, where it injured 143 individuals, the storm has exacerbated conditions in regions already suffering from unprecedented rainfall. In Hong Kong, authorities declared the highest-level “black” rainstorm warning, resulting in the cancellation of numerous public services, including court hearings and outpatient clinic operations.
The legal proceedings for prominent media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai were postponed as supporters gathered outside the court, braving the elements with umbrellas. Schools across the region were also closed for the day as the storm’s impact intensified.
Air travel faced significant interruptions, with approximately 20 percent of flights canceled in the morning hours, as reported by Flightmaster. Quanzhou, a vital export hub for textiles and footwear, experienced over a third of its flights being grounded due to the severe weather conditions. Analysts warn that extreme weather events like Podul threaten the economic stability of the world’s second-largest economy.
The storm has drenched provinces such as Guangdong, Hunan, and Jiangxi, bringing rainfall exceeding 70 millimeters per hour. China has been grappling with a series of record rainfalls and prolonged heatwaves, leading the government to announce an additional 430 million yuan (approximately $A92 million) in disaster relief funding. This latest allocation brings the total funding since April to at least 5.8 billion yuan.
After crossing the coast of Fujian shortly after midnight on Thursday, Podul weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm but continues to pose serious risks. The storm is moving northwest at speeds of 30-35 kilometers per hour, threatening to unleash further devastation on areas still recovering from last week’s historic rainfall.
In just the first week of August, Hong Kong recorded its heaviest rainfall since 1884, while in Guangdong, more than 75,000 residents were evacuated as 623 millimeters of rain fell on the provincial capital, Guangzhou. This amount is nearly three times the city’s average for the month, resulting in at least seven fatalities.
State media reported that over one million cubic meters of water—equivalent to 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools—were discharged from a reservoir in eastern Guangdong to prepare for the anticipated heavy rain. In response to the flooding, authorities in Meizhou, Guangdong, closed all highways on Thursday morning. Furthermore, the high-speed railway connecting the tech hubs of Shenzhen and Hangzhou, located approximately 1,200 kilometers apart, was also suspended.
As southern China braces for the ongoing impacts of Tropical Storm Podul, the situation underscores the growing challenges posed by climate change and extreme weather events in the region.
