Several coastal provinces in east China launched emergency response measures on Thursday to cope with Typhoon Kong-rey’s potential landfall, including mass evacuations and the suspension of train and ferry services.
Typhoon Kong-rey, the 21st typhoon of the year, made landfall on Taiwan's Taitung coast around 14:00 on Thursday before moving across the island and gradually shifting northeast toward the Fujian and Zhejiang coasts, where it is expected to weaken.
According to the National Meteorological Center, Kong-rey could make landfall along the coasts of Fujian or Zhejiang provinces on its northeastward path.
On Thursday morning, the center issued an orange alert for Typhoon Kong-rey, warning that the storm would bring torrential rains to eastern regions, including the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, as well as Shanghai, from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.
The Fujian Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its typhoon emergency response to level II and activated a level IV response for heavy rainfall.
A total of 73 passenger ferry routes in Fujian have been suspended, and 115 maritime construction projects have been halted.
Several coastal townships in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, experienced rainstorms as the city’s weather forecast department raised its typhoon emergency response to level II early Thursday morning.
In Lianjiang County, over 300 fishing boats have returned to harbor, leaving no vessels operating offshore. Additionally, all seaside parks and scenic spots in the county have been closed.
In Putian City of Fujian Province, the forestry department deployed specialized personnel to thin the leaves of street trees to prevent accidents from possible falls onto high-voltage cables, transformers, or houses.
In anticipation of the storm's impact, railway and maritime authorities have suspended several train services. At Ningde Railway Station, all train services have been halted from 14:00 on Thursday to 12:00 on Friday, with engineers intensifying patrols along the railway and on equipment.
More than 70,000 people have been evacuated in Zhejiang Province, according to local authorities. A level II emergency response is in place as high waves have been observed along the coastal areas.
Waves along the seashore of Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province have reached heights of up to eight meters -- nearly three stories high.
Scenic spot operators in Wenzhou have been evacuating tourists as the waves continue to rise.
In Taizhou, another city in Zhejiang, the local disaster relief authority has also raised the typhoon emergency response to level II, shutting down ferry and train services.
Staff at Zhantai Passenger Port in the city have sealed the doors and windows of the waiting hall to protect against the gales.
In addition, China Railway has suspended 13 passenger train services on the Hangzhou-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway for Thursday and Friday.
Weather forecasters predict torrential rains will hit Shanghai and Jiangsu Province over the next 48 hours as Kong-rey moves northeast.
China has a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe response, and a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Chinese coastal provinces initiate emergency response measures as typhoon Kong-rey nears
