China cancels flights, issues evacuation orders as Typhoon Dolphin looms
France 24
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France 24
Original Source
China cancelled over 1,000 flights on its eastern coast and issued a top-level alert as Typhoon Dolphin approached on Sunday. The authorities evacuated tens of thousands of residents from high-risk areas and suspended ferry services and offshore construction projects.
More than 1,000 flights to and from China's eastern coast were cancelled on Sunday as authorities issued a top-level alert ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Dolphin.
Typhoon Dolphin has already swept through Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings. Before its landfall in the southeastern Chinese city of Yuhuan on Sunday, authorities moved offshore workers to safety, ordered vessels back to port and increased checks at reservoirs, mountain streams, landslide-prone areas, construction sites and tourist locations.
Nearly 1,400 flights in and out of Shanghai's two main passenger airports had been cancelled, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Hangzhou's airport in nearby Zhejiang province saw 270 inbound and outbound flights cancelled, the report said.
China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued a red typhoon alert – its most severe warning – on Sunday morning, forecasting "extraordinary torrential rain" in some areas of central and eastern Zhejiang.
Heavy precipitation is also expected to fall in Shanghai and parts of Fujian, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces through Monday afternoon, the NMC said.
After Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall, it is expected to weaken while moving in a northwesterly direction over eastern China.
In Fujian, nearly 99,000 people had been relocated from "risky areas" on Saturday evening ahead of the storm's arrival, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Services on more than 200 ferry routes were suspended in Zhejiang and Fujian, Xinhua said.
Work at offshore projects had been halted while 474 construction vessels had been called to port by Friday morning, Xinhua added.
Some train services in affected areas had also been suspended on Sunday to ensure passenger safety, state media reported.
Typhoon Dolphin's arrival in China comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul lashed southern Guangdong province, declared by authorities at the time as the strongest to hit China this year. Three people were killed and hundreds of homes were damaged by Typhoon Noul in the Philippines before reaching China.
Read moreBiggest typhoon in decades nears Taiwan after landslides kill 15 in Philippines
Stranded in Shanghai
By Sunday morning Shanghai had evacuated at least 30,300 people and cancelled about 1,500 flights, according to flight-tracking data provider VariFlight.
A 44-year-old tourist from Guangdong, surnamed Chen, said he was stranded in Shanghai after his family's flight, scheduled to depart on Sunday evening, was cancelled because of Typhoon Dolphin. He said the family had been rebooked on a flight at 10pm on Monday, although they were unsure whether it would be able to take off.
"To us Guangdong people, this typhoon is as ordinary as having a meal and feeling the wind. It's just part of everyday life," Chen said, adding that the storm did not appear particularly strong by the standards of China's southern coast.
In neighbouring Zhejiang province, the city of Wenzhou relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters as authorities braced for the storm's impact.
In Fujian province, authorities evacuated 98,900 people from high-risk areas after raising the typhoon emergency response to Level III, according to Xinhua. Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu have also activated Level III emergency responses.
Fujian maritime authorities said 55 coastal passenger ferry routes had been suspended, all 115 offshore construction projects halted and 290 construction vessels moved to sheltered waters.
The water resources ministry said the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang rivers could see major flooding, while smaller rivers in the hardest-hit areas could rise above warning levels.
Authorities warned of a high risk of geological disasters in parts of Zhejiang, while residents in areas covered by a red mountain-torrent warning were told to follow local evacuation orders.
Shanghai's Yangshan port cleared ships from its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter ahead of Dolphin, the city's maritime safety administration said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
Typhoon Dolphin has already swept through Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings. Before its landfall in the southeastern Chinese city of Yuhuan on Sunday, authorities moved offshore workers to safety, ordered vessels back to port and increased checks at reservoirs, mountain streams, landslide-prone areas, construction sites and tourist locations.
Nearly 1,400 flights in and out of Shanghai's two main passenger airports had been cancelled, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Hangzhou's airport in nearby Zhejiang province saw 270 inbound and outbound flights cancelled, the report said.
China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued a red typhoon alert – its most severe warning – on Sunday morning, forecasting "extraordinary torrential rain" in some areas of central and eastern Zhejiang.
Heavy precipitation is also expected to fall in Shanghai and parts of Fujian, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces through Monday afternoon, the NMC said.
After Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall, it is expected to weaken while moving in a northwesterly direction over eastern China.
In Fujian, nearly 99,000 people had been relocated from "risky areas" on Saturday evening ahead of the storm's arrival, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Services on more than 200 ferry routes were suspended in Zhejiang and Fujian, Xinhua said.
Work at offshore projects had been halted while 474 construction vessels had been called to port by Friday morning, Xinhua added.
Some train services in affected areas had also been suspended on Sunday to ensure passenger safety, state media reported.
Typhoon Dolphin's arrival in China comes two weeks after Typhoon Noul lashed southern Guangdong province, declared by authorities at the time as the strongest to hit China this year. Three people were killed and hundreds of homes were damaged by Typhoon Noul in the Philippines before reaching China.
Read moreBiggest typhoon in decades nears Taiwan after landslides kill 15 in Philippines
Stranded in Shanghai
By Sunday morning Shanghai had evacuated at least 30,300 people and cancelled about 1,500 flights, according to flight-tracking data provider VariFlight.
A 44-year-old tourist from Guangdong, surnamed Chen, said he was stranded in Shanghai after his family's flight, scheduled to depart on Sunday evening, was cancelled because of Typhoon Dolphin. He said the family had been rebooked on a flight at 10pm on Monday, although they were unsure whether it would be able to take off.
"To us Guangdong people, this typhoon is as ordinary as having a meal and feeling the wind. It's just part of everyday life," Chen said, adding that the storm did not appear particularly strong by the standards of China's southern coast.
In neighbouring Zhejiang province, the city of Wenzhou relocated more than 900,000 residents and opened more than 1,000 emergency shelters as authorities braced for the storm's impact.
In Fujian province, authorities evacuated 98,900 people from high-risk areas after raising the typhoon emergency response to Level III, according to Xinhua. Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu have also activated Level III emergency responses.
Fujian maritime authorities said 55 coastal passenger ferry routes had been suspended, all 115 offshore construction projects halted and 290 construction vessels moved to sheltered waters.
The water resources ministry said the Qiantang, Yong, Jiao and Shuiyang rivers could see major flooding, while smaller rivers in the hardest-hit areas could rise above warning levels.
Authorities warned of a high risk of geological disasters in parts of Zhejiang, while residents in areas covered by a red mountain-torrent warning were told to follow local evacuation orders.
Shanghai's Yangshan port cleared ships from its berths and moved more than 500 small and medium-sized vessels to shelter ahead of Dolphin, the city's maritime safety administration said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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