China shuts down ports, railway as Typhoon In-Fa reaches Zhejiang province

Hangzhou [China], July 24 (ANI): China shut down ports and railways on Saturday as it braced for Typhoon In-Fa as parts of the country struggled to recover from devastating floods earlier this week.

Citing the provincial emergency management department, China Daily reported that Zhejiang province upgraded its emergency response to Typhoon In-Fa to the highest Level I from Saturday noon.

At 11 am Saturday, the center of In-Fa, the sixth typhoon this year, was located about 395 km southeast of Xiangshan County in Zhejiang, with a maximum wind force of 144 km per hour, according to the provincial meteorological department.

The department expects the typhoon to move northwestward at a speed of 15 km per hour, and make landfall in the eastern or northeastern coastal areas of Zhejiang between the afternoon and night on Sunday.

The Zhejiang emergency management department has urged immediate flood prevention measures, saying that school classes, production, market, and road traffic shall be suspended when necessary.

In its neighboring city of Shanghai, Yangshan Port has evacuated hundreds of vessels as the wind force off the coast has reached around 89 to 102 km per hour and will continue to strengthen, according to the port’s bureau of maritime affairs. All large container ships had been evacuated in the early hours of Saturday, China daily further reported.

From Saturday to next Thursday, railway sections that are expected to be affected by Typhoon In-Fa in the Yangtze River Delta region are suspended to ensure the safety of passengers, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group Co., Ltd.

Xinhua reported that more than 9,54,000 people have been affected by floods in Guizhou province in southwest China following torrential rains. The average rainfall in Guizhou this year registered 615.5 mm, 5.6 per cent more than the same periods in previous years.

Since the flood season, six regional rainstorms have hit the province, with an average precipitation of 433.8 mm, up 10.6 per cent compared with the same periods in the past years, according to the provincial emergency management department. (ANI)