China evacuates thousands ahead of Typhoon Chan-hom

The province is expected to be hit with extreme rainfall measuring between 250-400mm this weekend.

China had evacuated tens of thousands of people, cancelled scores of trains and flights and shuttered seaside resorts on Friday as a super typhoon with wind gusts of over 200 kilometres per hour headed toward the country’s southeastern coast. The province upgraded its emergency response by two levels to prepare for the typhoon.

Satellite view of Typhoon Chan-hom right before sunset over the Yellow Sea on July 10, 2015.

Huge waves are seen as typhoon Chan-hom comes near Wenling, east China’s Zhejiang province on Ju …

Shanghai will likely go through a low tide and a high tide during the time that Chan-hom is over the city.

Storms that have passed within 75 miles of Shanghai at hurricane intensity since 1847.

Shanghai issued a typhoon alert on Friday as several cities in the province experienced strong rain and powerful gales. It has been invaluable to tropical cyclone forecasters, showing where the strongest winds are located in storms. The larger a storm like this is, the more water it can push ashore, boosting the risk of a risky storm surge.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Chan-Hom to continue tracking northwestward over the next three days under the steering influence of a sub-tropical ridge (elongated area of high pressure).

Earlier in the week, Typhoon Linfa displaced 56,000 people in southern China’s Guangdong province.

Only four such storms have come within 75 miles of Shanghai since 1948, according to NOAA data.

As of 10:15 p.m. local time Thursday Chan-hom was moving at a top… The latest coastal inundation models show Chan-hom’s storm surge could exceed 20 feet around Shanghai, dangerously close to the 22.6-foot height of the city’s downtown seawall barrier, which is supposed to be able to protect against a 1-in-1,000-year flood.

Facing a storm of questions, the Hong Kong Observatory defended its handling of the typhoon, insisting its decision to issue the typhoon No. 8 signal – which triggers a partial city shutdown – was based on meteorological data and consideration for public safety. The most severe downpour will be felt between Saturday noon and Sunday afternoon, Shanghai Daily reports, citing the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.