Severe Tropical Storm Mekkhala, known in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as Tropical Storm Ferdie, was a severe tropical storm that affected

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in early August 2020 causing 1.1 billion yuan (US$159 million) in damage. However, no fatalities had been reported.

Meteorological history

An area of persistent convection formed within the proximity of a through that would spawn Tropical Storm Jangmi on August 7, west of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. As Jangmi became the dominant system in the area, this low-pressure area remained disorganized. However, on the next day, as Jangmi moved away from the area, the system began to organize, and on August 9, the JTWC upgraded the storm to a Tropical Depression. Soon after, at 8:00 p.m. PST, the PAGASA followed and upgraded the storm and gave it the name Ferdie. By the next day, the JTWC upgraded Ferdie into a tropical storm. PAGASA then issued its last warning as Ferdie exited the

Philippine Area of Responsibility The Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is an area in the Northwestern Pacific where PAGASA, the Philippines' national meteorological agency, monitors weather occurrences. Significant weather disturbances, specifically typhoons that enter o ...

. Then soon, the JMA followed suit and upgraded Ferdie to a tropical storm, giving it the international name Mekkhala. At 07:30 CST on August 11 (23:30 UTC on August 10), Mekkhala made landfall at

Zhangpu County Zhangpu County () is a county of Zhangzhou prefecture-level city in far southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China with 847,535 (2020 census). The county seat is located in the town of Sui'an (). Zhangpu is bordered by the Longhai City ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

shortly after peak intensity.

Preparations and impact

Philippines and Taiwan

Mekkhala forced a Signal No. 1 warning to be placed for the

Ilocos The Ilocos Region (; ; ), designated as Region I, is an administrative region of the Philippines. Located in the northwestern section of Luzon, it is bordered by the Cordillera Administrative Region to the east, the Cagayan Valley to the northe ...

region in the Philippines, as it brought monsoonal conditions to portions of

, shortly after its formation. Although, Mekkhala remain well to the west of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, the storm still brought rounds of heavy rainfall to the island.

China

In preparation for Mekkhala, officials in

suspended ferry services and forced ships back to port. The

China Meteorological Administration The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) is the national weather service of the People's Republic of China. The institution is located in Beijing. History The agency was originally established in December 1949 as the Central Military Comm ...

issued a Level III emergency response, while flood control workers were sent to areas hit by Mekkhala. Train services and hundreds of flights were cancelled as Mekkhala neared. The Xiamen Flood Control reported that 3,200 people evacuated ahead of the storm. Mekkhala caused heavy precipitation amounts over

up to 7.847 inches (200 mm) in some areas. In

, roofs of wooden homes were torn off at a tourism site where 30 people were sheltering. In

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen. Nam ...

, damage from Mekkhala totaled to 1.1 billion yuan (US$159 million), where vehicles were forced to shelter along highways due to strong winds. Another highway in the region was blocked by a tree forcing two police officers to direct traffic away from the tree.

References

External links