BEIJING: For seven consecutive days, southern China has been pummeled by heavy rains unleashed by Typhoon Haikui, causing widespread chaos and destruction across the region. The slow-moving storm system, which made landfall in Fujian province on September 5 and subsequently weakened into a tropical storm, has refused to relinquish its grip on the area, drifting from Guangdong to Guangxi and leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
In the rural county of Bobai in the Guangxi region, a dramatic rescue effort unfolded as residents found themselves trapped in their homes, submerged under more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) of water. Local rescuers, operating from assault boats, embarked on a mission to save stranded individuals, working tirelessly through the night. This ordeal, reported by state media on Monday, serves as a poignant reminder of the perils that heavy rains and flooding can impose on vulnerable communities.
As meteorologists predict that the heavy rain will continue to pummel Guangxi in the coming days, concerns mount over the ongoing impact of Typhoon Haikui. The storm has shattered records, inundating the populous city of Shenzhen with the heaviest rainfall it has seen since records began in 1952. Neighboring Hong Kong has not been spared either, experiencing its worst storm in 140 years. The sheer magnitude of this disaster raises questions about the changing nature of typhoons in this region.
Scientists have sounded an alarm, warning that typhoons striking China are growing more intense and their paths increasingly complex. This intensification of storms, along with their erratic trajectories, heightens the risk of catastrophe, even in cities with robust flood defense systems like Shenzhen.
Climatologist Shao Sun from the University of California, Irvine, noted that typhoons that move far inland affect regions historically less exposed to heavy rainfall and strong wind, often with lower disaster resilience, leading to more severe losses. In the case of Shenzhen, the disaster was exacerbated by the sluggish westward movement of Haikui’s residual circulation, which remained nearly stationary from the afternoon of September 7 to the early hours of September 8. This stagnation led to a “train effect” of heavy rainfall, causing the event to surpass its expected intensity.
The “train effect” is a meteorological phenomenon where multiple convective cloud systems pass over an area in succession, resulting in the cumulative buildup of rainfall. This can sharply elevate the potential for heavy or even extreme rainfall, leading to catastrophic flooding and widespread damage.
