Over 20,000 evacuated in northern China due to typhoon-triggered downpour

ANKARA

Over 20,000 people have been evacuated due to incessant rains brought by Typhoon Doksuri in northern China over the past three days, state-run media reported on Sunday.

Some 20,656 residents have been cleared from Shijiazhuang, the capital of north China's Hebei province, due to continuous downpours since Friday as Doksuri approaches, the fifth typhoon of this year, the Beijing-based Xinhua News reported.

Nearly 1,100 people at risk of mountain floods and other disasters, such as landslides, have been relocated from Fuping County, situated in the remote region of Taihang mountain.

On Sunday, the deluge battered most parts of Hebei as the provincial meteorological observatory continued to issue a red alert for heavy rain.

As the rainstorm is forecasted to continue, provincial flood control and drought relief authorities decided to upgrade the flood control and typhoon emergency response from level III to level II.

Doksuri leaves trail of destruction in Philippines

The typhoon, known locally as Egay in the Philippines, hit the Southeast Asian nation late last week, devastating the archipelago across its 13 regions, local media reported on Sunday.

Doksuri's death toll in the Philippines has risen to 40, including 26 people who perished in a boat that sunk on Thursday, with hundreds of thousands more affected and displaced.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said it had caused agricultural and infrastructural damage estimated to be over 2 billion Philippine pesos (over $36 million).

At least 155 roads, bridges, schools, and government facilities were reported to have suffered damage at the height of the typhoon, while a total of 91,651.56 hectares (over 226 million acres) of crops were affected, the council reported.