Shanghai braces for Typhoon Chanthu as it approaches China coast
- School, flights and rail services suspended in the port city and neighbouring coastal regions
- ‘Super’ typhoon downgraded on Sunday evening after drenching Taiwan but causing little damage
The storm, with winds of more than 170km/hr (105mph) near its eye, was downgraded from a super typhoon to a strong typhoon on Sunday evening and was 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.
Authorities in the city and nearby areas cancelled flights and suspended schools and trains.
The province of Zhejiang near Shanghai raised its emergency response to the highest level on Sunday, closing schools and suspending flights and rail services in some cities, according to the official Xinhua news service.
Zhejiang also issued red alerts for flash floods in nine districts. Ningbo port, China’s second-biggest container transport hub after Shanghai, suspended operations from noon on Sunday. The port had just resumed operations after weeks of congestion, following Typhoon In-Fa in late July and a terminal closure related to Covid-19 in mid-August.
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, 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.
Port terminals in Shanghai regions suspended containers import and export services from Monday till further notice.
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Central China begins clean-up after record floods but other other cities brace for typhoon
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 on Monday and Tuesday. Classes were also due to be suspended on Monday afternoon and Tuesday.
Official forecasts called for rainfall of 250-280 millimetres in some areas of southeastern Jiangsu province, Shanghai and northeastern Zhejiang.
The typhoon passed by Taiwan’s east coast over the weekend, disrupting transport and causing some power outages, but otherwise little damage.
