Shanghai: China’s weather bureau issued a red alert early on Friday as super typhoon Lekima approached Zhejiang province on the eastern coast. The super typhoon has not been so strong since 2014. It is moving up and is to hit the mainland around Saturday morning.
The typhoon has issued gale warnings for the Yangtze River delta region, which includes Shanghai and will then further move north. The ‘red alert’ has already been issued. Taiwan has already cancelled flights and ordered markets and schools to close on Friday as the typhoon heads northwest, cutting power to more than 40,000 homes and forcing the island’s high speed rail to suspend most of its services.
The National Meteorological Centre said the typhoon, the strongest since 2014, was expected to hit the mainland in early on Saturday and then turn north. The island authorities have issued warnings for landslides and earthquake of magnitude 6 struck its northeastern coast on Thursday. Hours before the typhoon approached, which was forecasted to bring rainfall of up to 900 mm (35 inches) in its northern mountains. Hence there is a high probability of landslides to take place on Saturday when the super tycoon hits China.
More than 300 flights are cancelled on the Island because of the high alert. Some trains from Shanghai have also suspended ticket sales over the weekend. China’s Ministry of Water Resources has also warned of flood risks in the eastern, downstream sections of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers until Wednesday
