As Shanghai prepares for the arrival of a strong typhoon, all flights to its two international airports have been canceled. Authorities anticipate Typhoon Muifa, which will be the 12th cyclone to strike mainland China this year, to be the strongest one yet. Numerous flights had already been rescheduled as coastal regions prepared for the storm by boarding up.
On Wednesday, landfall is anticipated to occur at 19:00 local time (11:00 GMT). Shanghai, China’s largest metropolis and its financial center, is predicted to experience waves as high as five meters (16 feet). Additionally, state TV issued a warning that “extraordinarily heavy rain is forecast” overnight throughout the eastern seaboard’s highly populated region. In some regions of Shanghai, temporary evacuation centers have been put up, and a 30-kilometer (18-mile) radius around the city has been designated as an emergency evacuation zone
Schools have been closed and a red alert, China’s strongest weather warning, has been issued in Ningbo, a city south of Shanghai. According to China’s weather agency, “relevant areas should pay attention to the prevention of flash floods and geological catastrophes that may be triggered by severe rainfall.” The port city of Zhoushan, one of the busiest in the world in terms of cargo tonnage, will also be affected by the typhoon, with winds of up to 172 kilometers per hour (107 miles per hour) predicted there.
After being instructed to return home ahead of the storm by the authorities, about 7,400 commercial vessels have taken refuge in the ports of Zhejiang province. According to State TV, some 13,000 residents of adjacent islands and tourism destinations have also been evacuated. In the upcoming days, the typhoon is predicted to sweep across China and might have an impact on as many as 12 of the country’s 31 provinces.
