Typhoon Gaemi
Divers attempt to reach sunken Philippine oil tanker
By AFP
July 26, 2024
The coast guard has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an 'environmental catastrophe' and the worst oil spill in the Philippine history - Copyright AFP Jam Sta Rosa
Divers will attempt Saturday to inspect the hull of a Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil that sank off Manila as authorities race to avert an ecological catastrophe, the coast guard said.
The MT Terra Nova sank in bad weather in the busy waterway early Thursday, killing one crew member and leaving the country potentially facing its worst oil spill disaster.
“The weather is still bad but that is their goal for today, to conduct diving operations to determine the position of the ship and to check if there is a leak,” coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told AFP.
If the inspection by divers from the coast guard and a private contractor is successful, the salvor is under instructions “to start the syphoning tomorrow if possible”, Balilo added.
The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, he said.
The coast guard has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an “environmental catastrophe” and be the worst oil spill in the Philippine history.
So far the authorities said no leak has been detected from the industrial fuel oil cargo as the vessel rested on the sea floor under 34 metres (116 feet) of water.
However authorities have reported what appeared to be a “minimal” oil slick from diesel fuel used to power the tanker.
Oil containment booms have been deployed for what Balilo earlier described as “the worst case scenario” of the cargo leaking out.
The vessel sank nearly seven kilometres (four miles) from its origin in the port of Limay west of Manila. It was attempting to return to port after running into bad weather.
The incident occurred as heavy rains fuelled by Typhoon Gaemi and the seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.
The state weather service said the monsoon had weakened by late Friday, giving the authorities a window of relative calm at sea to recover the cargo.
The coast guard estimates the extraction would take at least seven days.
The Philippines has struggled to contain serious oil spills in the past.
It took months to clean up after a tanker carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro last year, contaminating waters and beaches of the island and devastating the fishing and tourism industries.
Another tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras in 2006, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge.
July 26, 2024
The coast guard has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an 'environmental catastrophe' and the worst oil spill in the Philippine history - Copyright AFP Jam Sta Rosa
Divers will attempt Saturday to inspect the hull of a Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil that sank off Manila as authorities race to avert an ecological catastrophe, the coast guard said.
The MT Terra Nova sank in bad weather in the busy waterway early Thursday, killing one crew member and leaving the country potentially facing its worst oil spill disaster.
“The weather is still bad but that is their goal for today, to conduct diving operations to determine the position of the ship and to check if there is a leak,” coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told AFP.
If the inspection by divers from the coast guard and a private contractor is successful, the salvor is under instructions “to start the syphoning tomorrow if possible”, Balilo added.
The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, he said.
The coast guard has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an “environmental catastrophe” and be the worst oil spill in the Philippine history.
So far the authorities said no leak has been detected from the industrial fuel oil cargo as the vessel rested on the sea floor under 34 metres (116 feet) of water.
However authorities have reported what appeared to be a “minimal” oil slick from diesel fuel used to power the tanker.
Oil containment booms have been deployed for what Balilo earlier described as “the worst case scenario” of the cargo leaking out.
The vessel sank nearly seven kilometres (four miles) from its origin in the port of Limay west of Manila. It was attempting to return to port after running into bad weather.
The incident occurred as heavy rains fuelled by Typhoon Gaemi and the seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.
The state weather service said the monsoon had weakened by late Friday, giving the authorities a window of relative calm at sea to recover the cargo.
The coast guard estimates the extraction would take at least seven days.
The Philippines has struggled to contain serious oil spills in the past.
It took months to clean up after a tanker carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro last year, contaminating waters and beaches of the island and devastating the fishing and tourism industries.
Another tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras in 2006, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge.
Stuti Mishra
Fri, July 26, 2024
Typhoon Gaemi leaves sailors stranded as ‘unprecedented’ number of ships grounded near Taiwan
Taiwan was struggling to rescue dozens of sailors off the southern coast after Typhoon Gaemi sank a freighter and grounded eight others in the Taiwan Strait.
At least 79 crew members were still awaiting rescue on eight freighters that were stranded, the Taiwanese coast guard said. But rough weather and rainfall were creating challenging conditions.
One crew member was found dead while four Myanmar nationals were rescued from a Tanzania-flagged freighter. The group detailed their ordeal of jumping into the sea holding each other in teams for survival amid rough conditions.
The ship had nine members on board. They said they separated into two groups, one of five and one of four, in order to jump into the sea and survive. Some of their colleagues watched helplessly as their life jackets were washed away.
One of the survivors said he had swum backwards to retrieve a waist bag containing his passport, before swimming “with all his life” to reach the shore, according to the BBC.
One of the crew members of sunken Tanzania flagged ship rescued in Taiwan (EPA)
Another burst out crying after calling his family as he informed his mother and his wife, who had assumed he had died, that he is alive.
The powerful typhoon swept through Taiwan on Thursday with gusts of up to 227kph (141mph) before moving towards China.
As Typhoon Gaemi barrelled across the Taiwan strait, it stranded an “unprecedented” number of ships in the sea for any other typhoon, according to Taiwan’s ocean affairs council minister Kuan Bi-ling, whose department runs the coast guard.
“Braving waves five-meters high ... our ships made it to as close as one nautical mile but still failed to get closer,” she said in a post on Facebook, adding authorities will continue the rescue efforts.
In Taiwan, the storm dumped over 1,800mm (70.8inches) rain in southern mountains since Tuesday and bringing flash flooding to several cities and towns that has largely receded.
Businesses and schools in most parts of southern Taiwan were shut for a third day.
The typhoon also injured more than 700 people and killed seven, and rescuers took nearly 1,000 people out of floodwater in inflatable boats.
Typhoon Gaemi lashes China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines
Updated Fri, July 26, 2024
Waves in Ningde as Typhoon Gaemi approaches
BEIJING (Reuters) -Typhoon Gaemi pummelled towns on China's coastal Fujian province on Friday with heavy rains and strong winds as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year began its widely watched trek into the populous interior.
The storm has affected almost 630,000 people in China's Fujian so far, with almost half of them having to be relocated, Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier this week, it killed dozens of people as it swept through Taiwan and worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines.
Gaemi was packing winds of up to 100.8 kph (62.6 mph) near its centre, easing slightly from 118.8 kph logged on Thursday night when it landed in the Fujian city of Putian.
While Gaemi has been downgraded to a tropical storm because of slower wind speeds, its vast cloud-bands remain a significant flood risk, particularly to rivers in central China already elevated due to summer rains.
Hours ahead of the typhoon's arrival, the Standing Committee of the Communist Party's politburo, helmed by President Xi Jinping, held a special meeting on flood control and urged cadres across the country to protect lives.
Efforts must be made to prevent breaches of major rivers and the collapse of large and key medium-sized reservoirs, Xinhua quoted a readout of the meeting as saying.
Due to the typhoon, 72 townships across Fujian recorded accumulated precipitation exceeding 250 mm (9.8 inches), with the highest reaching 512.8 mm, local weather bureaus said.
By late Friday, Gaemi is expected to reach Jiangxi province, home to China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang.
Forecasters warned as many as 10 provinces could be affected, including Henan, a province with a population of over 100 million in central China.
Henan's meteorological bureau expects Gaemi to start ushering in rains on Friday night.
Into next week, Gaemi's impact is expected as far north as the provinces of Jilin and Liaoning, both of which are still grappling with overflowing rivers and waterlogged cities following a powerful cluster of summer storms a few days ago.
Scientists have warned that global warming is worsening tropical storms, making them less frequent but much more intense, according to a report published on Friday.
On Thursday, Gaemi flooded several Taiwanese cities and towns, injuring more than 700 people and killing seven as well as sinking a freighter off the island's coast.
Rescuers pulled nearly 1,000 people out of floodwater in inflatable boats, the Taiwan government said.
In the Philippines, the storm killed 32 people, with the capital Manila declaring a "state of calamity" after widespread flooding. A marine tanker carrying industrial fuel also sank in rough seas off the Philippines.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing and Yimou Lee in Yilan, Taiwan; additional reporting by Mikhail Flores in Manila; editing by Miral Fahmy and Edwina Gibbs)
Death toll from Typhoon Gaemi rises to 33 in the Philippines
Fri, July 26, 2024
People wade through floodwaters after strong monsoon rains. The Philippine government has declared a state of emergency in Manila after severe rains caused by the southwest monsoon and Typhoon Gaemi, resulting in significant flooding throughout the city and surrounding regions. Basilio Sepe/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The death toll from floods, landslides and other accidents caused by Typhoon Gaemi in the Philippines has risen to 33, police said on Friday, with eight people confirmed dead in Taiwan.
The victims in the Philippines include 11 people who died from drowning or electrocution in the capital Manila, which was struck by one of the worst floods in more than a decade.
In some areas, flood waters reached up to rooftops, forcing residents to evacuate and submerging vehicles.
Main roads were impassable at the height of the flooding on Wednesday, and almost half a million residents in metro Manila were without electricity.
Ten people died in four provinces north of the capital, including one crew member of an oil tanker that sank in Manila Bay off Limay town in Bataan province after being battered by huge waves.
The sinking of the oil tanker has triggered an oil spill, which the coastguard has been working to contain to avoid a major environmental crisis.
Police also recorded 12 fatalities in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal, mostly due to drowning and landslides.
Gaemi worsened monsoon rains which had been battering the Philippines since early July, causing floods and landslides in south-eastern provinces.
At least eight people were killed in weather-related accidents before Gaemi hit, the national disaster agency said.
More than 1.3 million people have been affected by the bad weather since July 11, with over 211,000 displaced from their homes, the agency said.
In Taiwan, which was also hit badly by Gaemi, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) said on Friday that the death toll had increased to eight.
Meanwhile, rescue work was continuing for six missing crew members of Tanzanian-flagged freighter Fu-Shun, which sank off the coast of Kaohsiung Harbor on Thursday.
At least 12 killed by mudslide in China as heavy rains from tropical storm Gaemi drench region
KEN MORITSUGU
Updated Sun, July 28, 2024
Asia Typhoon
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, vehicles drive through a flood waters in Shenyang, northeastern China's Liaoning Province, July 26, 2024.
(Wang Hongtao/Xinhua via AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING (AP) — At least 12 people were killed after a mudslide hit a homestay house in a tourist area in southeastern China on Sunday as heavy rains from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said.
Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of storm-related winds, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet.
The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late Saturday.
The mudslide struck the homestay house about 8 a.m. and trapped 21 people in Yuelin village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports. About 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain was recorded in the area over a 24-hour period.
Six injured people were rescued. The reports didn't say whether the injuries were serious. The owner of the house initially reported that 18 people were trapped, but a search and rescue team later determined that three more people were unaccounted for, CCTV said.
The one-story house offered food and accommodation near Hengshan, a mountain in a scenic area where tourists come on weekends to escape the summer heat, a report by The Paper said. The scenic areas had been closed starting Sunday because of the rains until further notice, even before the mudslide.
The CCTV reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from the rains. They didn’t mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said that heavy rain tied to the tropical storm hit southeastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday.
In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said that winds from the storm were the suspected cause, and that the investigation was continuing.
The wide arc of the tropical storm also was bringing heavy rain about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away to China's northeast.
The Linjiang city government in Jilin province posted a notice on social media asking residents living below the third floor to move to higher places on Sunday as the Yalu River, which forms the border with North Korea, rose above the warning level.
In neighboring Liaoning province, hundreds of chemical and mining companies suspended operations from Saturday as a precautionary measure and more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Nearly 40 trains were suspended through Thursday for safety reasons after steady rain in recent days created hazards and damaged tracks.
Two more people were reported dead in Taiwan, raising the death toll to 10, the island's Central News Agency said, quoting the emergency operation center. Two others were missing, and 895 people were injured.
The latest victims were a man found in a drainage ditch and another man who died in a car accident.
More than 800 people remained in shelters in Taiwan as of Saturday night, and more than 5,000 households remained without power.
The typhoon caused nearly 1.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($51.8 million) in damage to crops including bananas, guavas and pears; chicken and other livestock farming and oyster and other fisheries, the Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.
A cargo ship sunk off Taiwan's shore during the typhoon, killing the captain, while eight other ships ran aground.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING (AP) — At least 12 people were killed after a mudslide hit a homestay house in a tourist area in southeastern China on Sunday as heavy rains from what remained of a tropical storm drenched the region, state media said.
Elsewhere in China, a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai, apparently because of storm-related winds, according to The Paper, a digital news outlet.
The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Before reaching China, the typhoon intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines, leaving at least 34 dead, and swept across the island of Taiwan, where the death toll has risen to 10, authorities said late Saturday.
The mudslide struck the homestay house about 8 a.m. and trapped 21 people in Yuelin village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hengyang city in Hunan province, state broadcaster CCTV said in a series of online reports. About 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain was recorded in the area over a 24-hour period.
Six injured people were rescued. The reports didn't say whether the injuries were serious. The owner of the house initially reported that 18 people were trapped, but a search and rescue team later determined that three more people were unaccounted for, CCTV said.
The one-story house offered food and accommodation near Hengshan, a mountain in a scenic area where tourists come on weekends to escape the summer heat, a report by The Paper said. The scenic areas had been closed starting Sunday because of the rains until further notice, even before the mudslide.
The CCTV reports said the mudslide was triggered by water rushing down the mountains from the rains. They didn’t mention Gaemi but the China Meteorological Administration said that heavy rain tied to the tropical storm hit southeastern parts of Hunan province on Saturday.
In Shanghai, a photo posted by The Paper showed a delivery scooter on its side mostly covered by leafy branches near the still-standing barren trunk of a tree. It said that winds from the storm were the suspected cause, and that the investigation was continuing.
The wide arc of the tropical storm also was bringing heavy rain about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away to China's northeast.
The Linjiang city government in Jilin province posted a notice on social media asking residents living below the third floor to move to higher places on Sunday as the Yalu River, which forms the border with North Korea, rose above the warning level.
In neighboring Liaoning province, hundreds of chemical and mining companies suspended operations from Saturday as a precautionary measure and more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Nearly 40 trains were suspended through Thursday for safety reasons after steady rain in recent days created hazards and damaged tracks.
Two more people were reported dead in Taiwan, raising the death toll to 10, the island's Central News Agency said, quoting the emergency operation center. Two others were missing, and 895 people were injured.
The latest victims were a man found in a drainage ditch and another man who died in a car accident.
More than 800 people remained in shelters in Taiwan as of Saturday night, and more than 5,000 households remained without power.
The typhoon caused nearly 1.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($51.8 million) in damage to crops including bananas, guavas and pears; chicken and other livestock farming and oyster and other fisheries, the Central News Agency said, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.
A cargo ship sunk off Taiwan's shore during the typhoon, killing the captain, while eight other ships ran aground.
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