Typhoon

Typhoon Dolphin struck eastern China, including Shanghai, with winds up to 150 km/h, prompting more than one million people to evacuate their homes. The storm disrupted flights and transport while bringing heavy rain, flooding and the risk of landslides across the region.

Aug. 9 (UPI) — Typhoon Dolphin roared into eastern China Sunday at Force 13 speeds of 85 miles per hour, producing extreme downpours and prompting the cancelation of hundreds of flights, official media reported.

Dolphin made two landings in densely populated eastern China, with the first coming at 5:30 p.m. local time at Yuhuan in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The second landfall came at Yueqing City in Zhejiang a bit more than an hour later.

China’s National Meteorological Center issued alerts to local authorities in the region to be guard on against extreme downpours.

Forecasters warned that heavy to torrential rain is expected until Tuesday in most parts of Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and northern and central-eastern Hubei provinces.

Some local rain totals could reach as high as 12.5 inches in eastern Zhejiang and the mountainous regions of southern Anhui, they predicted, with as much as 3.1 inches falling in as little as an hour.

Meanwhile, 388 inbound and outbound flights were canceled Sunday at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou City, the capital of Zhejiang Province.

Typhoon Dolphin is expected to weaken into a tropical storm as it moves northwestward through Zhejiang, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Sunday.

The storm passed north of the island but its wake prompted sea warnings in the area as maritime officials announced the suspension of sea traffic on Monday.

Despite dodging a direct hit, Dolphin produced strong winds and heavy rains in northern Taiwan, causing scattered damage, the Central News Agency reported.

Six people were injured and hundreds of incidents of fallen trees were reported in Taipei as a result of the typhoon.

Noul hit southern Guangdong province and neighbouring Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region.

Typhoon Noul has hit southern China, including Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in Guangdong province.

China’s national weather centre said Noul made landfall on the coast of Huidong county in Huizhou, southern Guangdong province, at approximately 3:50am local time on Sunday (19:50 GMT on Saturday).

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Noul was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.

Hong Kong’s Observatory said Noul, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour) near its centre, was moving Sunday into inland Guangdong and weakening progressively, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the region.

More than 715,000 people had been relocated for safety by early Sunday in Guangdong province, according to state-owned China National Radio. On Saturday, authorities said some 340,000 people were evacuated.

China’s National Meteorological Centre expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.

Many trees were seen uprooted in Huilai county, located on the coast of Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hong Kong’s airport authority said about 350 flights were cancelled on Sunday. At least nine people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.

As Noul approached Hong Kong, parts of a large scaffolding on a high-rise building collapsed on Saturday afternoon, local police said, although initial reports indicated there were no injuries.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Noul was bringing rainfall to parts of southern and eastern Taiwan. It was passing over waters south of Taiwan and was moving away from the island Saturday.

Earlier this month, Typhoon Bavi brought strong winds and rain to eastern China, leading to the evacuation of more than two million people. It made landfall on July 11. Another, Maysak, made landfall in southern China on July 3.

Dramatic video captured the moment waves caused by Typhoon Bavi slammed into a house in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. The storm caused widespread power and phone service outages. Authorities had evacuated more than two million residents.

Though it has weakened to a severe tropical storm, it still presents a risk because of the huge volume of moisture within its rain bands.

The storm is expected to gradually diminish in its intensity as it moves north-west.

On Sunday morning, the centre of the typhoon reached Hangzhou City in Zhejiang province, Chinese state media reported.

Forecasters said the typhoon would move to eastern Anhui on Monday, and to the northern Yellow Sea from the Shandong Peninsula on Tuesday.

More than 1.7 million people were evacuated in Zhejiang and thousands more in neighbouring provinces, state media said. Schools, work and outdoor activities have been suspended in Zhejiang, while 400 flights and dozens of train services have been cancelled.

The city of Wenzhou, home to around 10 million people, is close to the path of the storm, with authorities evacuating hundreds of thousands of residents.

“We could hear roof tiles and tree branches falling,” Li Liangxing, a resident of the city told Reuters, adding “of course we were scared.”

Beijing had ordered the evacuation of 100,000 people to “avoid risk”, officials said.

Bavi began as a super typhoon, battering Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands last Monday with wind speeds of 290km/h (180mph).

As it made its way through the Pacific, weakening to 144 km/h winds, it struck the Sakishima islands, part of Japan’s Ryukyu island chain between the country’s main islands and Taiwan. At least five people were injured and thousands were without power.

Taiwan itself did not receive a direct hit but thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and there was a danger of landslides after heavy rain. Neither country has reported any deaths.

Taiwanese authorities had warned that Bavi could bring up to 1m (39 inches) of rainfall.

Dozens of flights have been cancelled while schools have suspended classes across the region. Supermarket shelves have been wiped clean as residents stock up on supplies.

Parts of southern China are still reeling from the devastation brought by Typhoon Maysak earlier this week.

Maysak left at least 39 people dead and killed large numbers of livestock, resulting in massive agriculture loss. It also spurred two rare tornadoes in the central Hubei province.

Typhoon Bavi brought heavy rain and powerful winds to Japan’s southern islands while skirting Taiwan, where rough seas, fallen trees and localized damage were reported.

Despite the storm, residents in Keelung ventured out to markets as Bavi weakened while tracking toward China’s east coast, where landfall is expected on Sunday.

July 10 (UPI) — Typhoon Bavi weakened as it moved off the Philippines on Friday but was expected to bring heavy rain to Taiwan and parts of Japan before it makes landfall in China.

Bavi, which was called Inday in the Philippines, killed at least 15 people after heavy rains caused flash floods and landslides in several villages and cities, and affected tens of thousands of people there, The BBC and The Philippine Star reported.

The typhoon on Friday brought storm surge and rain to Okinawa, Japan, and was expected Saturday to pound the north and east sides of Taiwan, potentially bringing nearly 40 inches of rain in some areas.

Once past Taiwan, the storm could make two landfalls in China, part of which is still recovering after Typhoon Maysak earlier this week.

Maysak’s havoc is linked to at least 39 deaths, though searches were underway for people reported missing.

Hundreds of flights in Japan, including Okinawa and the Sakishima Islands, were canceled on Friday and Saturday as residents braced for Bavi’s pounding rain.

Forecasters in China warned of two potential landfalls as it moves toward the north, noting that Bavi’s size — at it’s widest point, the typhoon is as wide as France — means that both its remnants and outer rain bands are likely to affect a huge swath of people and property.

A reservoir wall broke in Nanning in China, sending out a torrent of water after rivers swelled from the passage of a typhoon. At least four people have been killed by flooding due to Typhoon Maysak, while another 62,000 have been evacuated across the southern city, officials say. The emergency flood control response has been raised to its highest level.

President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” to rescue people affected by the floods across China. Authorities have warned that torrential rains will continue in the coming days.

Residents in the region have been moving to emergency shelters and making last-minute preparations before the arrival of the super typhoon.

In the Northern Mariana Islands, Rota – the southernmost inhabited island, about 50km north-east of Guam – is taking a direct hit, according to the NWS.

The mayor’s office has published an advisory urging residents to prepare for “destructive winds”, adding that “conditions are expected to deteriorate rapidly, making it unsafe to be outdoors”.

The NWS also warned that winds are not forecast to fall below typhoon force until early afternoon on Monday, and below tropical storm force until after midnight.

Guam, usually a sun-soaked tourist destination with a population of about 170,000, has opened five evacuation centres in its schools. These sites have a maximum capacity of around 1,700 and are primarily intended for vulnerable people.

The island’s civil defence office said at 13:00 local time on Sunday that one of the evacuation sites had already reached maximum capacity and that people were being redirected to another site.