Typhoon “Capricorn,” the 11th typhoon of the year, made landfall on the coast of Wenchang City, Hainan Province on September 6th, with maximum sustained winds exceeding level 17. This typhoon has become the strongest autumn typhoon to land in China in history, causing damage to at least 19 cities and counties in Hainan Province, resulting in casualties, significant destruction to infrastructure, and heavy losses.
According to the Hainan Province Defense Typhoon “Capricorn” Emergency Command, incomplete statistics indicate that the typhoon has affected a total of 19 cities and counties in the province. Among them, Haikou City has 1.268 million affected residents, 401 houses collapsed, 32,424 houses damaged, over 167,800 trees toppled, 56,742 hectares of crops affected, resulting in an estimated direct economic loss of about 26.324 billion yuan. As the landing site of the typhoon in Hainan, Wenchang City is expected to suffer direct economic losses reaching 32.7 billion yuan.
Hainan authorities reported that the typhoon has resulted in 4 deaths and 95 injuries. Due to the consistent concealment of the truth by the Chinese Communist Party, the actual extent of the damage could be even more severe.
Reported by the Hainan Daily on the 8th, the important infrastructure such as water, electricity, gas, and roads in Hainan Province has suffered severe damage due to the typhoon. In terms of electricity, the province has suffered a loss of 523.1 MW of load, with 1.2138 million households still without power; in terms of communication, 17,000 base stations in the province were affected.
Additionally, to cope with the typhoon, local authorities implemented the “Five Stops, One Close,” which includes stopping classes, work, transport, air travel, business operations, and closing tourist attractions.
Significantly, on September 6th, under the onslaught of the super typhoon, multiple wind turbines in a wind energy project in Wenchang, Hainan, collapsed. The wind farm is located near Yulan Bay in Wenchang, with images circulating online showing wind turbine towers snapped around the waist, bearing the markings “China Huadian” and “Yunda Wind Power.”
These wind turbine units belong to Huadian Group’s subsidiary, Huaneng Hainan Power Generation Co., Ltd. The manufacturer of the wind turbine units, Yunda Corporation, is China’s third-largest complete machine manufacturer.
Industry insiders indicated that the total cost of one 6.25MW typhoon-resistant wind turbine unit is nearly millions of yuan.
On September 7th, a short video posted on a WeChat account titled “Capricorn knocked down the largest Hainan yellow rosewood tree in Haikou” attracted significant attention, with the video receiving tens of thousands of reposts.
Reported by the Southern Metropolis Daily on the 8th, the fallen yellow rosewood tree bore a national ancient tree and precious wood plaque issued by the Haikou municipal government in March 2019. The tree, identified as a 60-year-old Agalloch eaglewood (also known as yellow rosewood, one of the top four famous woods listed as a second-level protected plant in China), was virtually regarded as the “Rosewood King” of Haikou due to its massive size. Experts estimate the market value of this rosewood tree to be approximately 2.6 million yuan.
After the passage of the super typhoon “Capricorn,” a popular internet-famous restaurant in Haikou lay in ruins. The establishment, known as “Starry Sky Realm: Coastal Cultural Interpretation Center,” is located near Haikou Bay.
As reported by Red Star News, staff at the internet-famous restaurant revealed damages to the restaurant’s glass, membrane structure, audio equipment, seaside boardwalk, among others, estimating losses amounting to millions of yuan without considering operating revenue.
Furthermore, the typhoon has caused severe damage to the roof of the Wuyuan River Sports Stadium in Haikou, with most areas reduced to just the framework. On September 15th, a concert by hip-hop artist Kanye West is scheduled to take place at the stadium, sparking concerns among netizens about whether the event can proceed as planned.
It is noteworthy that according to China’s weather forecast, over the next two days (September 8th to 9th), maintaining the influence of Typhoon “Capricorn” and its residual cloud system, strong rainfall will persist in the western and southern parts of Guangxi and the southern part of Yunnan, with locally heavy rain or potential secondary disasters.