No way out: A damaged car partially submerged in a flooded neighbourhood in Miyun district, northern Beijing. — AFP
Shanghai relocated more than 280,000 people, halted hundreds of flights and ferry services and imposed speed limits on roads and railways as a tropical storm whipped eastern China with gales and heavy rain.
Co-May’s landfall in the port city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province in the early hours of yesterday was soon followed by warnings of a tsunami set off by a powerful earthquake off Russia’s far east.
This raised concerns of larger-than-expected storm surges along the Chinese coast.
While the winds from Co-May were weaker than those generated by typhoons, the Chinese financial hub and other cities in the Yangtze River delta have taken no chances.
At least 640 flights could be cancelled at Shanghai’s two main airports yesterday, including 410 at Pudong and 230 at Hongqiao, authorities said.
All ferry services in Shanghai had been cancelled since yesterday morning, and drivers were told to drive under 60kph on highways, local media reported.
Shanghai’s Disneyland and Legoland remained open.
But some rides and performances would be suspended at Legoland due to weather conditions, the park said.
Airports at nearby cities Ningbo, Wenzhou and Hangzhou also saw flight cancellations and diversions.
As of morning, more than 75% of yesterday’s flights at Zhoushan had been cancelled.
Some train services in the region were temporarily suspended with others operated under restricted speeds, state media said.
Shanghai is rarely subject to direct hits from strong typhoons that generally make landfall further south in China.
The most significant typhoon in recent years that landed directly in Shanghai was Bebinca last year, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China’s financial capital since 1949.
Co-May made landfall in Zhoushan in the early hours of yesterday with maximum sustained wind speeds near its centre of 23m per second.
Forecasters earlier expect Co-May to make another landfall closer to Shanghai in the evening.
The storm coincided with a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula yesterday, located about 4,000km from Shanghai.
China’s National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre said the tsunami was expected to have a “disastrous impact” on some parts of China’s coast, including Shanghai and Zhoushan.
The natural resources ministry has also issued tsunami warnings for the two cities.
The said cities could be hit by waves of up to one metre in height in the early evening.
Warnings of waves of up to 3m have been declared along Japan’s Pacific coast due to the tsunami. — Reuters
