Typhoon In-fa: eastern China battens down as Henan death toll rises to 63
- Coastal areas and major cities such as Shanghai warned to be vigilant to risk of floods and mudslides after storm makes landfall in Zhejiang
- Henan province, scene of last week’s catastrophic floods, says it remains on high alert
Flights and rail services were cancelled in several Chinese coastal cities on Sunday as Typhoon In-fa arrived and the death toll in flood-stricken central Henan province rose to 63.
China’s National Meteorological Centre (NMC) raised the alert for heavy rain from yellow to amber – the second-highest level – across large areas of the country on Sunday while a typhoon amber alert has been in place since Friday.
It said In-fa made landfall in the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province at around 12.30pm, with maximum wind speeds of 38 metres per second.
The NMC also urged eastern provinces to remain vigilant to the risk of flooding and mudslides.
Between 250mm and 360mm (10-14 inches) of rain was expected to fall in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces on Sunday and Monday.
“[Satellite images] of Typhoon In-fa showed that the parts that have made landfall were starting to weaken due to friction over land, the eye of the storm was not as clear as yesterday,” the NMC said on social media platform Weibo on Sunday.
“However, as In-fa is expected to stay for an extended period in eastern China, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai need to remain vigilant for strong winds and rain.”
The combined effects of Typhoon In-fa and an area of high pressure in the Pacific have already generated intense rain that caused last week’s deadly floods in Henan, which affected more than 11.4 million people.
All flights to and from major cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo were suspended, as well as some train services. Shanghai has also suspended all high-speed train services until noon on Monday.
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Thousands of residents in central China's Xinxiang city band together to fight rising floodwaters
Meanwhile, Zhejiang province raised a red alert for flooding for close to 30 cities and counties, according to the provincial government’s Weibo account.
Ahead of the typhoon’s arrival, social media users in Zhejiang posted photos and videos showing trees being blown over by strong winds and the Yao River overflowing its banks.
Henan Communist Party secretary Lou Yangsheng said on Saturday the province remained on high alert and was preparing for In-fa and further heavy rain, Henan Daily reported.
Lou also said the authorities were carrying out thorough checks of the province’s emergency response system.
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His statement came after many social media users questioned why the subway system in Zhengzhou was not shut down when heavy rain alerts were issued, leading to flooding in subway carriages and the deaths of 12 people.
All cars in the tunnel had been removed by Sunday morning, news site Caixin reported.
Four people are reported to have died in the tunnel, but social media users have continued to post appeals for information about missing relatives who they fear were trapped there.
While Henan authorities said five people were missing as of Sunday, many feared the number could be higher. An unofficial tally kept by Shanghai news site The Paper showed that more than 20 people across the province were still unaccounted for.
One of the missing was Sha Tao, who was last seen in the Zhengzhou subway.
Sha’s wife has pleaded online for Zhengzhou Metro to speed up rescue efforts. She said on Sunday that she had filed a missing person’s report with the police.
Meanwhile, Zhengzhou man Li Yongsheng was found alive in an underground parking garage in the city after being trapped for about three days, The Paper reported.
Li survived by lying on top of ventilation ducts and was eventually found on Friday after the management of the car park heard his cries for help, the report said.
The clean-up operations continued in other parts of Henan. In the town of Mihe, about 50km (30 miles) from Zhengzhou, power, water and communication signals were still down on Saturday. However, the town’s deputy party secretary Liu Ruibin said the situation was gradually improving.
More than 60 people were still at a resettlement site due to damage to their homes, he said.
An employee of Shandong Mobile, surnamed Ai, said he had been working to restore phone signals since Wednesday but outlying villages were still waiting for services to resume.
