FLOODED: Rescue workers carry out a victim during a search and rescue operation in the flooded tunnel in Cheongju, South Korea on July 16. Photo: YONHAP / EPA / NTB
Several people have died and are missing after typhoons, floods and heat waves hit Asian countries this week. The authorities warn that more is to come.
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Extreme weather with floods, hurricanes and high temperatures affects several countries in Asia. Extensive rain has led to floods and landslides in Japan, China, South Korea and India. In South Korea, 40 people have so far been confirmed dead due to the weather conditions. The authorities have received criticism for poor handling. China has set a heat record of 52.2 degrees, but also has problems with floods and hurricanes. At the same time, the US climate envoy John Kerry visits Beijing for climate talks between the US and China. Show more
The world’s most populous continent is currently feeling the wrath of extreme weather. Deadly heat waves and extreme amounts of rainfall – and the authorities are now warning the population that more is to come.
The torrential rain this month has led to floods and flooding in parts of South Korea, Japan, India and China. Several million people have been affected by the extreme weather, which has caused landslides, power outages and floods.
Floods and several landslides in South Korea have so far left 50 people missing or dead, write the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
40 have so far been confirmed dead, reports Reuters.
Twelve of the dead were found in a flooded tunnel in the city of Cheongju, where 16 vehicles, including a bus, were trapped after a dam collapsed.
Several have criticized the authorities for the way they have handled the flooding, and drivers who use the road regularly blame the authorities for failing to ban the use of the tunnel even though flooding had been warned.
– This type of extreme weather is going to become everyday – we have to accept that climate change is happening and deal with it, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Monday.
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RESCUE CREWS: Rescue workers working to empty the tunnel in Cheongju in South Korea of water. Photo: KIM HONG-JI / Reuters / NTB Photo: Kim Ju-hyung / AP / NTB Photo: HANDOUT / AFP / NTB Photo: YONHAP / Reuters / NTB
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RESCUE CREWS: Rescue workers working to empty the tunnel in Cheongju in South Korea of water. Photo: KIM HONG-JI / Reuters / NTB
From extreme heat to heavy rainfall
China has also experienced the extreme weather. Throughout this week, soaring temperatures have been reported in the country.
It was Monday 17 July beaten heat record in the small village of Sanbao in the Xinjiang region of a whopping 52.2 degrees.
The previous record in the country was 50 degrees.
In addition to heat records, southern regions of China have experienced rainstorms and typhoon Talim.
Several flights and trains have been canceled in the regions of Guangdong and Hainan, and 230,000 are said to have been evacuated before the typhoon struck.
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CLEANUP: Rescuers clear a street in southern Chongqing, China on July 14. Photo: XINHUA / HUANG WEI / EPA / NTBFLOODS: Vehicles parked on the side of a road are stuck in floods in Wanzhou District, southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 14, 2023. Photo: XINHUA / HUANG WEI / EPA / NTBFLOOD: Residents are evacuated in Wanzhou District, southwest of Chongqing Municipality in China, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Photo: Li Yuyang / AP / NTBNEDSUNKET: The cars in this parking garage were also taken by floodwaters. Photo: SOCIAL MEDIA / Reuters / NTB
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CLEANUP: Rescuers clear a street in southern Chongqing, China on July 14. Photo: XINHUA / HUANG WEI / EPA / NTB
Typhoon Talim moved on to Vietnam on Tuesday, but is said to have been reduced to a tropical storm with winds of 16 meters per second.
According to Vietnam, The Guardian have evacuated 30,000 people from the coastal city of Hai Hong, and Vietnam’s second largest airport in Hanoi is closed.
No one has so far been reported dead in China or Vietnam despite the storm, Reuters reports.
CLOSED: Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport closed on Tuesday 18 July after Typhoon Talim reached the country. Photo: NHAC NGUYEN / AFP / NTB
Climate talks between the US and China
US climate change envoy John Kerry is currently visiting Beijing to meet with Chinese authorities and discuss climate change.
China and the USA are the countries in the world with the largest climate emissions, while both countries struggle with extreme weather. Both countries are currently affected by heat waves.
During a meeting with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, Kerry said he hoped new climate talks could contribute to new forms of cooperation between the US and China.
Flooding in several places
The flood and the extreme temperatures affect several parts of the continent. Japan reports temperatures of 39.7 degrees and has had record amounts of rainfall, reports the Japanese Meteorological Institute.
– It is raining like never before, says a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Institute in a statement, and at the same time urged residents in the affected areas to exercise maximum vigilance, reports CNN.
The flood and flooding in the country has so far led to at least six people being killed, and several are still missing, writes the channel.
MAJOR DESTRUCTION: The flood has caused destruction in several places in Japan. Here, a house has collapsed in a mudslide in Karatsu in the south of Japan. Photo: JIJI PRESS / EPA / NTB
450 villages swallowed up
It is not just East Asia that is affected. India, located in the south of the continent, is also affected by flash floods.
According to NTB, at least eight people have lost their lives, and more than 115,000 have been displaced. It is the monsoon rains that have caused the river Brahmaputra to overflow.
450 villages have been swallowed by the water masses, according to local authorities.
The water levels are on the way down, and 85 relief camps have been set up in the flood-affected areas, where more than 3,500 people have been given temporary refuge, NTB informs.
In Agra, the water level in the Yamuna river has risen and led to flooding in the garden behind the Taj Mahal, writes Times of India. The water hit the walls of the palace on Monday 17 July, for the first time in 45 years.
REACHED THE TAJ MAHAL: The flood has for the first time reached the walls of the Taj Mahal palace in Agra in India. Photo: PAWAN SHARMA / AFP / NTBPublished:
Published: 19.07.23 at 01:06
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2023-07-18 23:06:31
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