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
Typhoon In-Fa made landfall on the coast of Putuo, Zhoushan, in East China's Zhejiang Province at 12:30 pm on Sunday, packing winds of up to 38 meters per second at the center, according to the monitoring by the National Meteorological Center. Around 200 warnings of meteorological disasters have been issued in East China's Shanghai and Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces as of Sunday morning. 132 of these warnings have been issued as of 8 am in Zhejiang alone which is to bear the brunt of the typhoon. Meanwhile, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center has sustained its double red warnings for storm tides and waves in Shanghai on Sunday morning, and red warnings for storm tides in Hangzhou Bay area in Zhejiang. Wu Rui, chief service officer at the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, told the Global Times on Sunday that the heaviest rainfall period in Shanghai is expected to occur between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning with average amount of rainfall to reach the degree of a tropical storm. The process accumulated rainfall will reach 150 millimeters to 200 millimeters with some areas reaching 250 millimeters to 350 millimeters. The hourly maximum rainfall is expected to reach 40 millimeters to 60 millimeters with some areas reaching 80 millimeters. As Typhoon In-Fa is expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon in East China's Zhejiang Province, earlier than previously predicted, emergency measures including suspension of air flights and railway runs, and restricting speed of subway trains in the coastal cities. Seawater is flowing into many locations in Ningbo and Zhoushan cites. At least eight airports in Shanghai and Zhejiang have canceled all flights on Sunday. As typhoon In-Fa gains strength, the railway authority has decided to suspend the railway operations on several sections in the Yangtze River delta between Sunday and Wednesday. Shanghai's metro lines 5 and 16 and Shanghai's maglev line have all suspended operation, while others have suspended just part of their lines. Due to the typhoon, amusement parks in Shanghai including Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai Happy Valley and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park said they will close for business temporarily on Sunday. The safety of local residents is of utmost importance for the flood control job, officials said. Originally expected to make landfall in the eastern or northeastern coastal areas of Zhejiang Sunday evening, the In-Fa is moving faster than expected and will come onshore at the coastal areas around Xiangshan, Zhejiang, and Qidong, Jiangsu Province, on Sunday afternoon, the National Meteorological Center reported. Due to the typhoon, Shanghai has limited the speed of its subway trains, thepaper.cn, a Shanghai-based news website, reported Sunday. Hangzhou's subway could be suspended when necessary, the Hangzhou Daily reported. he Hangzhou International Airport suspended all flights for Sunday, which could continue for Monday, thepaper.cn said. With strong wind and huge waves as high as five to seven meters, seawater flowed into many locations in Ningbo and Zhoushan on Saturday evening. Local people built bastions of sandbags in an attempt to stop it, according to a video released by news portal youth.cn on Sunday morning. The Zhejiang emergency management department has called for immediate flood prevention measures, saying that local schools, production, market, and road traffic shall be suspended when necessary. Shanghai's Yangshan Port has evacuated hundreds of vessels, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. From Saturday to next Thursday, railway sections that are expected to be affected by Typhoon In-Fa in the Yangtze River Delta region have been suspended to ensure the safety of passengers, Xinhua reported. On Saturday, Yuan Jiajun, Party secretary of Zhejiang Province, said that the safety of the people is of utmost importance, and the goal is to have no deaths and the minimum number of injuries and economic losses, a report released by the Zhejiang government on Sunday said. Since the heavy storm in Central China's Henan Province caused heavy casualties in Zhengzhou subway, Zheng Zhajie, governor of Zhejiang Province, suggested the tragedy should be a lesson during a visit to Hangzhou subway station on Saturday, and stressed to not wait for orders in an emergency.
