AP’s latest storm report on Typhoon Bebinca said more than 414,000 people were evacuated on September 16 as strong winds and torrential rains battered Shanghai, China. Schools were closed and residents were advised to stay indoors.
More than 60,000 emergency responders and firefighters have been deployed to assist Shanghai, according to Chinese state media.
Flights, ferries and train services in Shanghai and surrounding provinces have been suspended during Typhoon Bebinca, disrupting travel during the three-day Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
Due to the impact of Typhoon Bebinca, Shanghai airports canceled more than 1,400 flights from September 15 to 16. In Hangzhou, about 170km southwest of Shanghai, the city government also canceled more than 180 flights.
Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in Shanghai at around 7:30 a.m. on September 16, in the sprawling commercial district of Pudong with winds of 151 km/h near its center. The storm weakened as it moved inland, causing flooding in parts of Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.
As for the damage caused by the latest storm in China, state media said the winds uprooted or damaged more than 10,000 trees, left at least 380 households without power, damaged four homes and injured at least one person. At least 53 hectares of farmland were flooded.
China's weather forecasters said Shanghai and some neighboring provinces are expected to see up to 300mm of rain from September 16 to 18.
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Typhoon Bebinca (Ferdie in the Philippines, Typhoon No. 13 in Japan) is 35km south-southeast of Shanghai, China and has been moving west-northwest at a speed of 28km/h in the past 6 hours. The minimum pressure at the center of the storm is 970 hPa.
The latest JTWC forecast says Bebinca will continue moving west-northwest into inland China. As it interacts with land, increased wind shear and the intrusion of cool, dry air will cause Bebinca to weaken and dissipate rapidly over the next 36 hours. The system will be closely monitored for signs of reorganization and re-intensification.
Shanghai, with a population of 25 million, rarely sees strong storms because storms usually hit further south in China.
Typhoon Yagi made landfall on China's southern island of Hainan earlier this month as a super typhoon. The third typhoon in the South China Sea has also devastated several other Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam.
In Myanmar, Typhoon Yagi left at least 74 people dead and dozens missing. Yagi left four dead in Hainan, China, at least 10 dead in Thailand and 20 dead in the Philippines. In Vietnam alone, as of September 15, 353 people were dead and missing, and about 1,900 injured in Typhoon Yagi No. 3 as well as floods and landslides caused by the storm.
