Shanghai’s airports cancelled or delayed dozens of flights Sunday as authorities braced for Typhoon Muifa, but the storm bypassed China’s commercial capital and may hit land further north.
More than 500,000 people were evacuated as the powerful typhoon was previously forecast to hit the eastern coast near Shanghai over the weekend. But Muifa changed course while at sea, packing winds of 178 kilometres an hour, the national meteorological centre said Sunday. The temperamental storm – which has already changed speed and direction several times – is now due to make landfall in the eastern province of Shandong Monday morning, it added, although it is weakening. Authorities had initially expressed concern that Muifa may wreak havoc similar to the destruction unleashed by Typhoon Saomai in 2006 – the worst to hit the nation in 50 years – which killed at least 450 people.
Still, the two airports in Shanghai halted many flights on Sunday morning, following the cancellation of more than 200 flights the previous day, which affected nearly 30,000 passengers. But some resumed in the afternoon as the storm passed and planes were able to take off and land again, a local media report said. The typhoon – which had originally been forecast to be Shanghai’s worst since 2005 – brought strong winds and rain to the metropolis Sunday.
At least one person went missing in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang when a boat sank, the official Xinhua news agency reported. But there were no reports of major road blockages or downed trees in the commercial city. The eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong — next in line — were meanwhile bracing for the impact of the storm, evacuating tens of thousands of people and ordering boats back to shore, media reports said. The local weather bureau in Shandong said the typhoon may weaken to a tropical storm when it makes landfall, but authorities had still ordered around 20,000 fishing boats to go back to harbour, Xinhua said. The government’s National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre has warned that the typhoon could affect an even wider area than initially predicted if it continues to hug the eastern coast and makes landfall further north.
