Storm-ravaged southeast China was hit by one of its strongest typhoons in decades yesterday, forcing the evacuation of more than 1.5 million people and bringing the region to a standstill.
Typhoon Saomai, bringing winds of over 216kph and torrential rain, made landfall in the eastern province of Zhejiang just to the south of Shanghai at 5:25pm.
"It is the strongest typhoon to have landed in southeast China in 50 years," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhejiang Communist Party chief Xi Jinping (
Other provincial officials warned that Saomai appeared to be more powerful than Typhoon Rananim, which struck in August 2004 and killed 164 people in Zhejiang, Xinhua said.
Television footage showed huge waves slamming against the coast.
In Zhejiang, 989,900 people were evacuated while in Fujian Province immediately to the south another 569,000 people had been forced from their homes, the agency said.
It quoted Zhejiang forecasters as saying Wenzhou, a port city of more than 1 million people, would be under a "head-on" attack.
Wenzhou municipal authorities issued an emergency notice early yesterday, ordering all businesses to immediately cease operations and make proper preparations for the onslaught.
More than 34,000 ships in Zhejiang had returned to port before the typhoon approached.
Another 10,000 ships and 35,282 fishermen based in Fujian had returned to harbor by Wednesday evening, while outdoor activities in all 26,800 schools in the province were suspended yesterday, according to Xinhua.
Fujian's Changle airport canceled 25 flights due to the typhoon, Xinhua said, adding that several ferry services were also canceled.
As much as 250mm of rain was expected to be dumped on Fujian over the next few days, Xinhua said, citing provincial observatory and government officials.
In Hong Kong, authorities canceled or delayed 17 flights to Taiwan as torrential rains and strong winds swept parts of the nation.
Saomai, named after the Vietnamese word for the planet Venus, closely followed Prapiroon, a typhoon that made landfall last week in southeast China and killed at least 80 people.
State media said on Wednesday that natural disasters killed 987 people, left another 310 missing and caused 68.8 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion dollars) in economic losses across China last month.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique