Flights cancelled, trains suspended, commuters suggested to stay home… people on high alert as Typhoon In-Fa lands in East China
By Global Times
Fishing boats are anchored off a port at Wenling, East China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday as they take shelter from a typhoon. The storm named Yanhua, which is approaching southern China, has exerted "remote control" over Central China's Henan Province, which was hit by the heaviest rain in 60 years. To avoid danger, all fishing boats stopped working on Monday. Photo: cnpshoto
East China is bracing for strong rain, winds and storm tides after Typhoon In-Fa made its landfall on the coast of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province on Sunday. Flights were canceled, trains suspended and people evacuated on a large scale, and cities are well-prepared for the country's strongest typhoon so far in 2021, after lessons learned from the flood disaster in Central China's Henan Province.
The central pressure of Typhoon In-Fa was 965 hectopascal (hPa), packing winds of up to 38 meters per second near its center, when it landed in the Putuo district of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province at 12:30 pm on Sunday. It will move northwest at about 15 kilometers per hour, according to weather forecast.
China's marine environmental authorities will continue to issue red warnings for storm surges and high waves, the Global Times learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday, as the typhoon landed at a time when Shanghai and the north coast of Zhejiang are experiencing astronomical high tides.
The typhoon is expected to move into the Bay of Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang, after crossing the Zhoushan Islands, and it will approach along the northeast coast to Shanghai between midnight Sunday and Monday morning as it weakens, Wu Rui, chief service officer at the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Shanghai will see the heaviest rainfall between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, with the average amount to reach the degree of a tropical storm, said Wu.
Cumulative rainfall during the period will reach 150 to 200 millimeters, with some areas reaching 250 to 350 millimeters. The hourly maximum rainfall is expected to reach 40 to 60 millimeters, with some areas getting 80 millimeters, he said.
The arrival of Typhoon In-Fa has been met with the full preparation of cities to be affected, under the high alert of national authorities. Transportation was largely restricted and evacuation of residents implemented in advance in the regions where the typhoon was about to hit.
Everyone is on the alert after the torrential rain that hit Henan Province, which killed 63, affected millions of people and caused economic losses of dozens of billions of yuan.
As of 12 pm on Sunday, at least 360,000 people in Shanghai who work outside the seawall, live in dilapidated houses, fields or boats, or are employed in construction, have been evacuated.
All high-speed trains in and out of Shanghai were suspended from 7 pm on Sunday to 12 am on Monday. Shanghai flood prevention authorities also suggested employees should be work from home due to the expected heavy rain.
Around 200 warnings of meteorological disasters had been issued in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, as of Sunday morning. Of the total, 132 had been issued as of 8 am in Zhejiang alone, which is to bear the brunt of the typhoon.
At least eight airports in Shanghai and Zhejiang have canceled flights as of Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, railway sections that are expected to be affected by the typhoon in the Yangtze River Delta region have been suspended from Saturday to next Thursday to ensure the safety of passengers.
Metro services on five subway lines and one maglev line in Shanghai and several subway lines in Hangzhou have been suspended as well.
Amusement parks in Shanghai including the Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai Happy Valley and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park said they will close for business temporarily on Sunday.
The Zhejiang emergency management department has called for immediate flood prevention measures, saying that local schools, production, markets and road traffic shall be suspended when necessary.
Learning from the Henan flood disaster, government officials of cities in the path of the typhoon have vowed to be on their fullest guard against potential losses from the typhoon.
Yuan Jiajun, Party secretary of Zhejiang , said on Saturday that the goal is to have no deaths and the minimum number of injuries and economic losses.
Zheng Zhajie, governor of Zhejiang, on Saturday referred to the tragedy that caused heavy casualties in a subway in Henan's Zhengzhou caused by a surging flood, saying that this incident should be a lesson. Zheng told the public not to wait for orders in an emergency.
A resident of Hangzhou surnamed Zhu said the local government takes the effects of the typhoon very seriously, issuing all kinds of reminders. She said local authorities issued an early reminder to tenants of underground garages with flooding hazards to park their vehicles by the roadside at ground level, and that all the roadside parking spaces in Hangzhou are now free of charge.
