FUZHOU, July 24 – The provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang in east China upgraded their alerts for typhoons on Wednesday, as Typhoon Gaemi, the third typhoon of this year, is projected to hit Fujian’s coast on Thursday.
Fujian raised the emergency response level for typhoons from Level III to Level II, the second-highest level, on Wednesday.
It also announced that it would halt all passenger train services on Thursday, with some services also being suspended on Friday. Meanwhile, Zhejiang upgraded its alert to Level III on Wednesday noon.
Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, the center of Gaemi was located approximately 195 km 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 an estimated speed of 15 km per hour and gain force.
The typhoon is expected to make landfall along the coast of central or northern Taiwan on Wednesday night. After crossing the island, it is projected to make landfall between Thursday afternoon and midnight along the coast between Fujian’s Fuding and Jinjiang, according to the meteorological authorities in Fujian.
Influenced by the typhoon, rainstorms are expected to lash many parts of Fujian in the coming 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 600 millimeters.
Starting from Wednesday, coastal areas in Zhejiang are expected to see gales and rainstorms. Winds of up to 149.04 km per hour 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, as well as other cities.
So far, Fuzhou Changle International Airport in Fujian has canceled 13 flights, and the departure of multiple flights has been delayed.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, a total of 66 passenger ferry routes and 180 passenger ferry vessels along the coast of Fujian have been suspended. The passenger ferry services in the cities of Ningde, Fuzhou, Pingtan and Quanzhou have all been halted, and some ferry routes in Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Putian are also being gradually suspended.
