World News
1 Million People Evacuated as Typhoon Chan-Hom Hits Eastern China
Rescuers use an inflatable boat to evacuate residents from a neighborhood flooded by heavy rains from Typhoon Chan-Hom in Shaoxing in eastern China’s Zhejiang province
CHINA – More than 1 million people were evacuated in eastern China as Typhoon Chan-Hom made landfall Saturday afternoon.
The storm’s powerful winds knocked out power and collapsed houses, and thousands of businesses were affected by flooding, the government-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The storm made landfall shortly before 5 p.m. local time in the Zhujiajian Township of Putuo District in the island city of Zhoushan. Authorities reported no immediate casualties. Television coverage showed waves breaking over storm surge barriers along the coast, and passenger ferries were forced to cancel service.
Top sustained winds were estimated to be 98 mph, making Chan-Hom a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the Weather Channel said. At the Shanghai airport, about 80 miles north of Zhoushan, data showed sustained winds of more than 40 mph, with gusts about 50 mph. In Taiwan, more than 200 miles south of Zhoushan, a rainfall gage indicated more than 16 inches of rain had fallen in two days as the storm slowly moved through.
The National Weather Service said in an advisory that typhoon-force winds extended 40 miles from center of Chan-Hom, with tropical storm-force winds extending 165 miles.
Chan-Hom is expected to weaken as it moves inland.
Another typhoon, Nangka, is making its way northwest in the Pacific, potentially on target to hit Japan on Thursday. Nangka was briefly categorized as a “super typhoon” with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph early Friday but weakened slightly Saturday, the Weather Channel said.
