Storm warning as typhoon arrives
A TYPHOON forecast to hit China’s east coast today has forced the evacuation of thousands of people and the suspension of trains and flights.
A total of 37,521 people were relocated in the coastal city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province as winds on the sea near the city grow stronger, affected by Nepartak, this year’s first typhoon, according to Wenzhou’s flood control and drought relief headquarters.
Nepartak is expected to reach the coast of Fujian Province this morning after landing at Taiwan’s Taitung county at 5:50am yesterday, packing winds of up to 55 meters per second.
Two people died and 72 others were injured when the typhoon hit the island, driving thousands of people from their homes, disrupting power supplies and forcing the cancellation of more than 600 flights. The island’s railway services were also suspended.
A soldier who fell into the sea off Dongyin Island was found dead yesterday, the day after a man drowned off a beach in Hualien county. Dozens of injuries were reported, most caused by fallen objects.
About 430,000 households were affected by power cuts, but half had their electricity restored by the afternoon.
The National Meteorological Center said the typhoon will bring gales and torrential rain to coastal regions of Fujian and Zhejiang today.
Zhejiang’s maritime monitoring center predicted waves as high as three to four meters tonight in waters south of the province.
Nepartak is expected to “cause impact on the entire province with severe wind and rains,” the Fujian Meteorological Administration said, predicting wind speeds would have slowed to 137 kph by the time it hit.
Ferry services and flights between Fujian and Taiwan were halted, as were trains running between cities in Fujian and the neighboring Jiangxi and Zhejiang.
Ships at sea were told to return to harbor and all fishermen to evacuate, with 66 tugs and three helicopters lined up to help, according to news portal people.com.cn.
Orders were issued for work on all sea-related construction to be stopped and all staff evacuated, and all coastal tourist spots and parks were closed, it said.
Yesterday, 170 flights were canceled at the airport in Fuzhou, Fujian’s capital, and 245 at the airport in Xiamen.
Railway authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s capital, said the city’s train station had suspended 92 trains to coastal regions over the weekend.
The train station in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, said 16 high-speed trains heading to Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong yesterday and today had been suspended.
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