# Effects of Typhoon Ike in China

The effects of Typhoon Ike in China were significant, though paled in comparison to the effects on the Philippines. Typhoon Ike formed on August 26 southeast of Guam. The storm became a tropical storm on August 27 with the name Ike. The storm drifted northwest, attaining typhoon status on August 29. The storm later entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, attaining the name Nitang by PAGASA. On September 3, the storm ended up in the South China Sea, regaining typhoon intensity and threatening China. The storm made landfall over Hainan on September 5 and moved mainland, though weakening. The storm dissipated the next day.
Extensive damage reached China, with 50 deaths and 20 missing person reports. The storm severely hit the towns of Beihai, Qinzhou, and Fancheng. The storm also severely impacted Nanning, with seven missing people and two serious injuries. Overall, the nation experienced severe destruction. Work teams were sent to rescue people and to "rehabilitate the country".

## Background

On August 26, a tropical storm formed out of a subtropical ridge just southeast of Guam, noting the Joint Typhoon Warning Center to send out a formation alert. Moving northwest, the storm generally started to improve its condition. The next day, the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded the storm to a tropical storm, attaining the name Ike. The storm drifted northwest, bringing it closer to Guam. The storm curved west-southwest on August 29. Even though strong wind shear affected the storm, it attained typhoon status the same day. On August 30, the storm expanded due to favorable conditions, with PAGASA monitoring the storm the next day. The storm later attained the name Nitang from PAGASA. Because of favorable conditions, Ike rapidly strengthened, reaching its peak intensity the next day, with winds of 165 kilometres per hour (103 miles per hour) with a barometric pressure of 950 mbar (hPa; 28.05 inHg).
The storm made landfall over northeastern Mindanao on September 1, passing through the Philippines. On September 3, the storm ended up on the South China Sea, just south of China as a tropical storm. The storm later regained typhoon intensity due to favorable conditions, reaching a secondary peak intensity of 165 km/h (105 mph) and a pressure of 955 mbar (hPa; 28.20 inHg), just weaker than its peak intensity. On September 5, the storm made landfall over Hainan as a small typhoon, causing the storm to weaken while moving mainland. The storm quickly dissipated the next day on September 6.

## Impact

The storm caused extensive damage to crops, with monstrous flooding. First-hand reports describe 13 deaths, while newer reports say 50 deaths. Communication in China was temporarily destroyed because of the storm. Four foreign oil companies evacuated their sites temporarily. Twenty people were reported missing, with an unknown number of people injured. Boats in the coast were instantly smashed, and sugar cane fields further inland were demolished. In the prefecture of Beihai, 13 people were reported missing. The worst destruction from the storm was reported in the towns of Beihai, Qinzhou, and Fancheng. In Nanning, seven people were missing and two had serious injuries. In the same city, the typhoon destroyed power lines and snapped 450 trees. An lamount of 2.9 million pounds of vegetables was destroyed in the incident.
Half of the city temporarily lost electricity. In Haikou, major rain persisted, flooding the city. In Guangdong, 2,000 houses were flattened, and multiple crops were damaged. Damage assessment was delayed because of disrupted communication from Qinzhou and Peking. Damage assessment was also blocked from Hainan.

## Aftermath

According to a Chinese news agency, Typhoon Ike was the worst typhoon in China from the past 30 years. Another agency stated that that storm had the worst destruction in Guangxi since 1964. The government sent work teams to rehabilitate the country. Newspapers also noted the sensitivity of the Chinese government releasing damage information.