Chinese authorities are bracing for heavy rain on Sunday as powerful Typhoon Bebinca approaches the country’s populous east coast and the economic capital Shanghai, where all flights will be canceled. It is expected to make landfall and reach Shanghai between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management. The latter warned in a press release on Saturday that the typhoon could bring very heavy, even “torrential,” rain between Sunday and Tuesday. Officials met on Saturday to “seek and deploy” protective measures in “key regions,” according to this press release.
As the typhoon’s arrival coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday, the railway operator expects passengers to make 74 million trips during the holiday, the official railway agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. The Ministry of Disaster Management has therefore asked officials to be vigilant as “mobility will be high and risks will be significant.”
Suspension of maritime connections with passengers
The Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday launched level-four (the lowest) emergency operations over flood risks in Shanghai as well as the eastern provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The weather service on Sunday issued orange typhoon warnings, the second-highest level of a four-tier system, for several districts in Shanghai and some areas in neighbouring provinces. It advised people to refrain from gathering in large numbers, take ships to port and reinforce structures against strong winds.
Shanghai authorities on Sunday urged residents to protect themselves as best as possible against the effects of the typhoon “at high altitude” and on “transport, infrastructure and agriculture.” All flights will be cancelled on Sunday at Shanghai’s two main airports, Chinese state television CCTV announced. Traffic, affected by the arrival of Typhoon Bebinca, has already slowed at the two affected airports and “as of 8:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT), all flights are cancelled,” CCTV reported. All flights to and from Shanghai were cancelled as of 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, state media CCTV said.
Maritime connections with passengers will also have to be suspended from Sunday, according to an official statement from the municipal port published on social media.
A few days after Typhoon Yagi
China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, which fuel global warming. In early September, another typhoon, Yagi, hit southern China’s Hainan Island, killing at least four people and injuring 95, according to authorities. Experts say typhoons are forming closer to shore, intensifying faster and staying on land longer because of climate change.
Bebinca also passed over the Japanese island of Amami (south) during the night from Saturday to Sunday, with winds measured at 198 kilometers per hour, reported the Japan Meteorological Agency, which reported a “risk of landslides due to heavy rains.” In the Philippines, six people died from falling trees caused by tropical storm Bebinca, which hit the center and south of the country with strong winds and floods on Friday, authorities said on Sunday.
Source: BFM TV
