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China typhoon forces mass evacuation

July 11, 2015

Chinese authorities have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people as a typhoon heads toward the southeastern coast. Typhoon Chan-hom is predicted to be the most powerful to hit China in more than 60 years.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Fx4K
Super-Taifun Chan-Hom Roter Alarm im Südosten Chinas
Image: Reuters/W. Hong

More than 865,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas in the eastern province of Zhejiang, with Typhoon Chan-Hom expected to make landfall on Saturday afternoon local time, state news agency Xinhua said.

The National Meteorological Service said the typhoon might be the most powerful to hit Zheijiang since the communist government came to power in 1949.

The storm, which is expected to hit land between the coastal cities of Rui'an and Zhousan, is carrying wind gusts of up to 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour) and will bring heavy rain to several parts of China, including the commercial capital of Shanghai, the weather service said.

Transport chaos

Xinhua said some 29,000 ships had been ordered back to port, and that flights and train services had been suspended in the region.

The storm left five people dead in the Philippines earlier in the week, while 20 people were injured by the typhoon on Friday as it moved over islands in southern Japan, according to Kyodo news agency.

Typhoons often form over the South China Sea at this time of year, drawing energy from the warm waters.

Earlier in the week, Typhoon Linfa displaced 56,000 people in Guangong province in southern China.

tj/jlw (Reuters, AP)