The impact of Typhoon Lekima (2019) on East China: a postevent survey in Wenzhou City and Taizhou City

Abstract

Typhoon Lekima (2019) struck Zhejiang Province on 10 August 2019 as a supertyphoon, which severely impacted Zhejiang Province. The typhoon killed 45 people and left three others missing, and the total economic loss reached 40.71 billion yuan. This paper reports a postdisaster survey that focuses on the storm precipitation, flooding, landslides, and weather services associated with Typhoon Lekima (2019) along the south-eastern coastline of Zhejiang Province. The survey was conducted by a joint survey team from the Shanghai Typhoon Institute and local meteorological bureaus from 26 to 28 August, 2019, approximately two weeks after the disaster. Based on this survey and subsequent analyses of the results, we hope to develop countermeasures to prevent future tragedies.

Keywords

Typhoon Lekima (2019) / Zhejiang Province / disaster assessment / postdisaster survey

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Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41705096, 41775065), Key Program for International S&T Cooperation Projects of China (No. 2017YFE0107700), National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFC1501604), Shanghai Science & Technology Research Program (No. 19dz1200101), and Fundamental Research Funds of the STI/CMA (No. 2019JB06).

The major areas impacted by Typhoon Lekima (2019) included Taizhou city, Linhai city, Wenling city, and Yongjia county. We used local meteorological bureaus as the basic investigation units and considered the resources of local governments. A total of 3 departments and more than 12 experts were involved in this investigation. The investigation results informed the following analysis and discussion. Thanks to the Taizhou Meteorological Bureau, the Wenzhou Meteorological Bureau, and the relevant leaders, technicians, and partners who supported and assisted in completing this investigation.

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