Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Rammasun is located approximately 288 nm south of Hong Kong.

Super typhoon Rammasun left one person dead, forced thousands of evacuations and the closure of airports and railways as it hit the southern Chinese provinces of Hainan and Guangdong.

The island province of Hainan shut all its airports, ports, trains and bus stations, Xinhua News Agency reported, with more than 6,900 passengers affected from canceled flights. More than 70,000 residents near the area where the typhoon landed were evacuated, the agency reported, citing the provincial command centre for flood prevention, drought control and typhoon response.

China is bracing for the storm, which left at least 40 dead and millions without electricity in the Philippines earlier this week. Rammasun, which hit the island with wind speeds up to 216 kilometers an hour around 3.30 p.m. today, will be the strongest typhoon to hit southern China in four decades, according to Xinhua, citing the country’s National Meteorological Centre forecast.

In the Central Pacific:

The first tropical storm of the 2014 Central Pacific hurricane season formed on Thursday, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Centre.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, Tropical Storm Wali was about 970 miles east-southeast of Hilo. Maximum sustained winds were at 45 mph.

Its present movement is northwest near 12 mph. This motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours with a slight turn to the west on Saturday, according to forecasters.

NewsBytes:

Papua New Guinea - More than 45,000 people have been affected in the Gulf and Southern Highlands provinces as torrential rain continues.

China - At least 18 people have been killed and millions of others affected by floods triggered by the week-long torrential rains in China, state media reported Thursday. Seven people were killed in the southwestern province of Guizhou by building collapses and lightning strikes.