Shanghai region braces for typhoon In-fa after flooding in central China

Storm hit as country is still reeling from record flooding that killed 63, forced relocation of over 1m people

BEIJING:

China’s commercial hub Shanghai and neighbouring coastal regions cancelled all flights, slowed or suspended subway trains and shuttered businesses as Typhoon In-fa made landfall on Sunday, bringing flooding and felling around 1,000 trees.

The typhoon landed in the Putuo district of the city of Zhoushan, a major port in the east coast province of Zhejiang, at 12:30 pm (0430 GMT) on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the China Meteorological Administration.

Airport staff tied down aircraft in Shanghai to prevent damage, before Typhoon In-Fa smashed into land. #GLOBALink pic.twitter.com/pZ2VlUMJD6

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 25, 2021

The storm hit as central China was still reeling from record flooding that killed at least 63, cut off power and forced the relocation of more than 1 million people.

“We will make every effort to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property, and do everything to minimise disaster losses, and strive to achieve the goal of no deaths and few injuries and economic losses,” said Yuan Jiajun, the Zhejiang province Communist Party secretary, during an inspection of preparations on Saturday, official media reported.

After flooding 6 kilometres (4 miles) of roads in Zhoushan with seawater and felling around 1,000 trees in Shanghai on Sunday afternoon, the typhoon was due to make a second landfall on the coast between Zhejiang’s Jiaxing city and Jiangsu province’s Qidong city on Sunday night.

The Meteorological Administration earlier said the typhoon was moving at a speed of 15km per hour (9 miles per hour).

In-fa’s wind speeds were up to 38 metres per second, the Meteorological Administration said. That is equal to about 137 kph (85 mph), according to Reuters calculations.

The Zhejiang emergency management department upgraded its typhoon response to the highest level on Saturday, closing schools and markets and suspending road traffic when necessary.

Both Shanghai, home to about 26 million people, and Hangzhou to the south cancelled inbound and outbound flights from Saturday, and many train services in the region were also halted.

The Shanghai government said it would slow its subway trains and supended some lines from noon, and Hangzhou authorities also cancelled all underground trains.

Flooding in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou last week killed 12 people who were trapped in the subway system.

Shanghai Disneyland would close on Sunday and Monday because of the weather, the resort announced, while the city’s Yangshan Port has evacuated hundreds of vessels, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The typhoon was set to linger in eastern China after its second landfall and bring strong rainstorms to Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, and Shanghai, said Xinhua.