At least 22 dead, 10 missing as Typhoon Lekima ravages eastern China
- More than 1 million people in Shanghai and neighbouring Zhejiang province were evacuated and more than 3,000 homes were damaged
- National Meteorological Center says Lekima has weakened to a strong tropical storm
Typhoon Lekima has left 22 people dead and 10 missing as it swept across China’s eastern coastal cities, Global Times reported.
More than 1 million people in Shanghai and neighbouring Zhejiang province have been evacuated due to the storm, which has damaged more than 3,000 homes, China Central Television reported. Lekima, which made landfall in Zhejiang early Saturday morning, has weakened to a strong tropical storm, according to the National Meteorological Center.
The centre has downgraded Lekima to yellow from orange, and has an orange rainstorm alert. China has a four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Lekima forced Shanghai to suspend services on several metro lines, according to the local government’s official WeChat account. Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines Corp. and China Southern Airlines Co. were among those that announced flight cancellations, and high-speed rail services were affected in multiple cities, according to local media. Shanghai and Hangzhou airports are restoring operations gradually, according to Ctrip’s flight tracking data and the local government.
Taiwanese airlines cancelled about 520 international and domestic flights, according to local aviation authorities.