China warned that Haikui will bring heavy rains to regions in its south and east as concern lingers about the cyclone’s impact on farming with rice prices already soaring.
Weather authorities issued a yellow rain alert Tuesday morning, the third highest warning among its four tiers. Torrential rains were expected in parts of the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, while Jiangxi and Zhejiang would see heavy rains.
China earlier warned the downpours could inundate rice and vegetable crops, a threat that comes as rice shipment curbs by top exporter India and extreme weather tighten supplies globally. Those factors have helped push prices in Asia near the highest level in some 15 years.
Any significant rice output cut in China, the biggest grower and importer, could cause turmoil in an already rattled market.
See: Heavy Rains Threaten China’s Rice Crop in Latest Weather Worry
Haikui battered Taiwan over the weekend with typhoon-strength winds and heavy rain, then weakened as it traveled across the strait to the mainland. Electricity has been restored to most of the some 250,000 households in Taiwan that suffered power outages.
The cyclone is the latest bout of extreme weather both in China and around the world this summer. In late July and August, dozens of people died in northern areas including Beijing due to flooding from a typhoon. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a probe into flooding at a work site in the southwestern province of Sichuan that killed four people and left dozens missing.
More: China Official’s Call to Save Xi’s City Angers Flood Victims
Haikui left another five people missing in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, when a fire truck fell into a river, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. Three other people were rescued in that incident. Fuzhou also closed schools on Tuesday.
China Railway Shanghai Group said it planned to halt 66 routes Tuesday and Wednesday.
--With assistance from Hallie Gu.
