Typhoon hits Chinese coast as 1.1M people evacuated, flights cancelled

Chinese cities have been evacuated of more than 1m people after typhoon Chan-hom brought winds of up to 100mph to the coast. The country’s railway service said more than 100 trains between the region’s cities were canceled through July 12.

The typhoon made landfall at 4:40 p.m. local time Saturday in Zhujiajian Township of the Putuo District in the city of Zhoushan. To prepare for typhoon Chan-hom, we activated our contingency plan according to the forecast and opened pumping stations to reduce water levels, including the newly built Hongkou Harbor station.

Fujian, south of Zhejiang, evacuated more than 30,000 people and Jiangsu over 46,000 people.

SHANGHAI – Super typhoon Chan-hom barrelled towards eastern China near commercial hub Shanghai on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of more than 865,000 people after earlier lashing Japan’s Okinawa island chain and Taiwan. A number of cities have even canceled bus and boat ferry rides as a satefy precaution.

Top sustained winds were estimated to be 98 miles per hour, making Chan-Hom a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the Weather Channel said.

The powerful storm could be the strongest typhoon to strike Zhejiang province, just south of Shanghai, since 1949, China’s National Meterological Centre (NMC) said.

Tourists standing near the sea shore are hit by a wave, which surged past a barrier under the influence of Typhoon Chan-hom, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China on July 12, 2015. Heavy downpours were reported in other areas, such as the village of Lai’ao, which reported 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain since Friday evening.

The storm dumped rain on the northern Philippines and Taiwan, where several flights were suspended.

Violent gales and torrential rain have forced hundreds of flights to be canceled and many highways to be closed in the area.

Typhoon Nangka, a much stronger storm, will post a threat to Japan in a couple of days.