Hato, the biggest typhoon to affect the Hong Kong-Macao-Pearl River Delta region in 53 years, caused a confirmed 16 deaths and over 100 injuries. Last week Hato entered Guangxi Province from Guangdong and weakened into a tropical storm later at night. It was estimated to be moving towards the west and further weakening into a tropical depression by the time it reaches the border between Yunnan Province and Vietnam.
Hato raged through Guangdong Province and, in the Jiangmen area alone, countless orange trees suffered from broken branches and fallen oranges which were yet to ripen. Even though it had weakened by the time that it reached Guangxi Province, great damage was still done.
Fruits blown to the ground by the typhoon
The banana growing area in China is centered in the low land along the western coast, but banana trees are easily affected by strong winds and flooding, thus they are constantly threatened by the typhoons and storms in this area. This time, farmers in Nansha, Jiangmen, Yunfu, Zhouhai and Zhongshan suffered great losses. Farmers in Kaiping and Enping were also affected, with 50% to 70% of banana trees blown to the ground by Hato. By the afternoon of 23rd, the strong storm had left Kaiping and Enping and the weather was getting better. Areas incluing Zhanjiang, Chaoshan and Yangjiang were not stricken by Hato and local orchards were not greatly affected.
Banana orchard destroyed by Hato
Hato then moved to Guangxi Province, where farmers did not encounter the great damage that they had expected. Places including Natong, Wuming and Jiangzhou were not heavily affected, but banana trees in Wuzhou were damaged and caused financial losses reaching a minimum of several hundred thousand yuan. Currently, there is still rainfall caused by the typhoon and farmers need to prevent waterlogging.
Source: ifreshfair.com/