Chinese state television CCTV said traffic had already slowed at the economic capital’s two main airports and flights would be cancelled from 8 p.m. (1200 GMT).
Chinese authorities are bracing for heavy rains Sunday as powerful Typhoon Bebinca approaches the country’s densely populated east coast and the economic capital Shanghai, where all flights will be canceled. It is expected to make landfall, including in Shanghai, between Sunday night and Monday morning, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management. The Ministry warned in a statement Saturday that the typhoon could bring very heavy, even “torrential” rains between Sunday and Tuesday. Officials met Saturday to “find and deploy” protective measures in “key regions,” the statement said.
With the typhoon’s arrival coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a public holiday in the country, the railway operator expects passengers to make 74 million trips during the holiday, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The Ministry of Disaster Management has therefore urged officials to be vigilant, as “mobility will be high and risks will be significant.”
Suspension of passenger sea connections
The Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday issued a level four (lowest) emergency operation for flooding risks in Shanghai and the eastern provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The meteorological service on Sunday issued orange typhoon warnings – the second highest in a four-tier system – for several counties in Shanghai and some areas in neighboring provinces. It advised people to refrain from gathering in large numbers, return ships to port and reinforce structures against strong winds.
Shanghai authorities urged residents on Sunday to take the best possible precautions against the typhoon’s effects “at high altitudes” and in “transport, infrastructure and agriculture.” All flights will be canceled Sunday at Shanghai’s two main airports, Chinese state television CCTV said. Traffic, affected by the approach of Typhoon Bebinca, has already slowed at the two affected airports and “from 20:00 (1200 GMT), all flights are canceled,” CCTV reported. All flights to and from Shanghai were canceled Sunday from 20:00 local time, state media CCTV said.
Maritime connections carrying passengers are also to be suspended from Sunday, according to an official statement from the municipal port published on social networks.
A few days after Typhoon Yagi
China is the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, which are fueling global warming. In early September, another typhoon, Yagi, hit the southern Chinese island of Hainan, killing at least four people and injuring 95, officials said. Experts say typhoons are forming closer to shore, intensifying faster and staying over land longer because of climate change.
Bebinca also passed over the Japanese island of Amami (southern) on Saturday night, blowing winds measured at 198 km/h, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, which reported a “risk of landslides due to heavy rains”. In the Philippines, six people were killed by falling trees caused by tropical storm Bebinca which hit the center and south of the country on Friday with strong winds and flooding, officials announced Sunday.
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