GUANGZHOU – Typhoon Linfa made landfall on Thursday in south China’s Guangdong Province, where trains have been suspended, schools closed and thousands of fishing boats recalled to port.
Linfa made landfall in Jiadong Township of Shanwei City at 12:15 pm, packing winds of up to 35 m per second, according to the provincial meteorological station.
From Wednesday night, gales and torrential rains hit Shantou City about 100 km away from the landing point. Trees in the city were brought down by strong winds while three main bridges to Shanwei City and an offshore island county have all been closed as of Thursday morning.
With a complex route and changing intensity, Linfa was earlier expected to make landfall on the coastal regions stretching from Shantou City in Guangdong to Zhangpu City in Fujian Province.
About 10,400 fishing vessels returned to ports in five cities in Guangdong.
The province had issued a yellow alert for Linfa on Wednesday, closing kindergartens, elementary and middle schools in 15 counties.
The National Meteorological Center (NMC) has warned the typhoon will have a “serious impact” on South China.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Chan-Hom is forecast to enter the East China Sea and land in Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang province late Friday as a strong or super typhoon,according to the NMC.
As of 5 am Thursday, the center of Chan-Hom was located at 22.1 degrees north latitude, 130.1 degrees east longitude, which was 1,140 km southeast to Wenzhou city.
Zhejiang is evacuating people along the coastal regions to prepare for the upcoming storm.
Railway authorities in the eastern city of Shanghai plan to suspend all passenger trains along the coast on Friday and Saturday.
In a circular, the commission advised those in the affected areas to stock up on enough necessities to last one to three days. It added that it had an emergency disaster relief plan prepared if the worst came to the worst.
The top flood control authority also issued a level-two emergency response and dispatched three working teams to coordinate flood control efforts.
Chinadaily