Tropical storm Podul disrupts travel, shuts schools in China

Tropical storm Podul dumped torrential rain on southern China on Thursday, and caused widespread disruption in Hong Kong after tearing through Taiwan and leaving 143 people injured.

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In Hong Kong, the hearing of media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was cancelled after authorities put in place their highest-level “black” rainstorm warning.

Outpatient clinics had reduced opening hours and schools were shut for the day.

In southern China, still reeling from record downpours last week, airports reported cancellation rates of around 20%, according to data from Flightmaster, as Podul pelted parts of the provinces of Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi with more than 70 mm (2.76 inches) of rain an hour.

Over a third of flights to Quanzhou - a key textile, footwear and apparel export hub - were cancelled, with analysts warning extreme weather events increasingly pose a threat to growth in the world's second-largest economy.

China has been battling with record rainfall in its north and south as well as prolonged heatwaves in its interior.

The government on Thursday announced 430 million yuan ($59.9 million) in fresh funding for disaster relief, taking the total allocated since April to at least 5.8 billion yuan.