China on red alert as Typhoon Gaemi barrels towards Taiwan
Print Edition
China’s National Meteorological Center issued a red alert, the highest level, for Typhoon Gaemi at 10am yesterday. This is the first red alert for a typhoon issued this year.
The typhoon was expected to make landfall along the coast of central or northern Taiwan last night.
Taiwan closed schools and evacuated thousands from their homes yesterday ahead of Typhoon Gaemi, which authorities said could be “the strongest” to hit in eight years and has already killed one person on the island.
More than 4,000 people had been evacuated from sparsely populated mountain areas at high risk of landslides from the “extremely torrential rain.”
Almost all flights had been cancelled, officials said.
After crossing the island, it is projected to make landfall between today afternoon and midnight along the coast between Fuding and Jinjiang in Fujian Province, according to local meteorological authorities.
Fujian raised the emergency response level for typhoons from Level III to Level II, the second-highest level, yesterday. It also announced that it would halt all passenger train services today, with some services also being suspended tomorrow. Meanwhile, Zhejiang upgraded its alert to Level III.
The Shanghai Meteorological Center yesterday evening issued a blue alert for the typhoon, which is expected to bring strong wind and rains to the city over the next three days.
Around 9am yesterday, the center of Gaemi was located approximately 195 kilometers southeast of Taiwan’s Yilan County, packing winds of up to 201.6 km per hour near its center. The typhoon is forecast to move northwest at a speed of 15kph and gain force.
Fujian provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters also activated a level IV emergency response for rainstorms yesterday.
Influenced by the typhoon, rainstorms are expected to lash many parts of Fujian for three days, and the province’s central and northern coastal areas are likely to record accumulated rainfall of up to 350 millimeters, with some areas even exceeding 600mm.
Starting yesterday, coastal areas in Zhejiang are expected to see gales and rainstorms. Winds of up to 149.04kph are likely to sweep nearby waters of cities including Wenzhou and Taizhou. Heavy downpours are estimated to batter some parts of Wenzhou, Taizhou, Lishui, Quzhou, and other cities.
Zhejiang’s maritime safety administration has required ships navigating along its coast to make proper voyage plans and move away from typhoon-affected areas as soon as possible.
Typhoon Gaemi also triggered flooding and landslides in the neighboring Philippines, where local authorities said four people were killed south of the capital Manila.
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