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19 March 2024

Coastal China faces flooding as Typhoon lands

Published
By AP

Typhoon Haikui slammed into eastern China's Zhejiang province early Wednesday, packing winds up to 150 kilometers (90 miles) per hour and triggering flooding.

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated earlier from parts of heavily populated Shanghai and surrounding areas and ships were ordered to port in preparation for Haikui, the third typhoon to hit China in less than a week.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the storm landed in Zhejiang's Hepu township in Xiangshan county before dawn Wednesday. It said about 130 people were stranded in rural areas by flooding but didn't mention any reports of casualties.

The China Meteorological Administration had issued a red alert for Typhoon Haikui, the highest so far this year, and said it was expected to bring heavy rains and strong winds for 48 hours.

Shanghai, which has 23 million people and is the country's financial hub, banned all outdoor group activities, closed all city parks and suspended summer classes. It also stopped all outdoor construction.

The city was evacuating 200,000 people and the adjoining province of Zhejiang had already evacuated 130,000 people, Xinhua said. It said more than 30,000 ships had been called back to shelter in ports.

China is still recovering from typhoons Damrey and Saola, which hit over the weekend. The flooding and landslides from those storms killed 23 people and left nine missing, Xinhua said Tuesday.

Saola battered Taiwan and the Philippines earlier and was blamed for about 60 deaths in the two countries.