China cancels flights as typhoon In-fa nears
BEIJING: Flights were cancelled in eastern China and cargo ships were ordered out of the area on Saturday as Typhoon In-fa churned towards the mainland ater dumping rain on Taiwan.
In-fa was forecast to hit the coast of Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, on Sunday aternoon or evening, the provincial weather department announced.
The storm had sustained winds of 155kph with gusts up to 191kph as it moved northwest away from Taiwan, the island’s weather bureau reported.
Schools, markets and businesses in Zhejiang were ordered to close, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said road traffic would be suspended when necessary.
The airport in the provincial capital of Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai, cancelled 90% of flights on Sunday and was expected to cancel more on Monday, the newspaper Zhejiang Daily reported on its website.
Large container ships were evacuated from Yangshan Port in Shanghai, one of the world’s busiest shipping centres, according to Xinhua. It cited port management as saying winds off the coast were 89 to 102 kph and would accelerate.
Train service in parts of the Yangtze River Delta region around Shanghai will be suspended from Saturday to Thursday, Xinhua said, citing the China Railway Shanghai Group Co.
In-fa caused high waves and heavy rain in Taiwan but there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
Meanwhile, a man in central China was rescued ater spending three days trapped in a flooded underground garage following torrential rain, while at least four bodies were found ater a traffic tunnel was drained, a news report said on Saturday.
The death toll rose to 58 ater record rain hit the major city of Zhengzhou on Tuesday, state TV reported, citing Li Changxun, deputy director of Henan Provincial Emergency Management Department.
Rescuers used bulldozers and rubber boats to evacuate residents of areas that still were under water, according to the Shanghai news outlet The Paper.
The rain flooded a Zhengzhou subway tunnel where at least 12 people died, knocked out power to a hospital and other buildings and let streets filled with mud. Dozens of trains in the region were delayed for up to 40 hours.