SHANGHAI – Authorities here and in neighbouring coastal regions cancelled flights, and suspended schools, subways and trains as Typhoon Chanthu approached mainland China after drenching Taiwan.
The storm, with winds of more than 170kph near its eye, had been downgraded from a super typhoon to a strong typhoon yesterday evening and is expected to gradually weaken, Shanghai city authorities said in a post on their official WeChat account.
But it was still expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to coastal regions.
The province of Zhejiang near here raised its emergency response to the highest level yesterday, closing schools and suspending flights and rail services in some cities, the official Xinhua news service reported.
Zhejiang also issued red alerts for flash floods in nine districts.
In Shanghai, home to about 26 million people, all flights at the city’s larger Pudong International Airport were to be cancelled from 11am local time (0300 GMT), while flights from the smaller Hongqiao airport in the west of the city were to be cancelled from 3pm, the Shanghai government announced on WeChat.
The city also suspended subway services on some lines serving the city’s southern districts, and said parks, outdoor tourist attractions and playgrounds would be closed today and tomorrow. Classes were also due to be suspended this afternoon and tomorrow.
Official forecasts called for rainfall of 250-280mm in some areas of southeastern Jiangsu province, here and in northeastern Zhejiang.
Taiwan downgraded Typhoon Chanthu to a medium typhoon on Saturday. The storm did not make direct landfall on the island. – Reuters, September 13, 2021
