Typhoon Jelawat Hitting China's Eastern Zhejiang ProvincePowerful Typhoon Jelawat battered China's eastern Zhejiang Province with ferocious winds and torrential rains, knocking down trees in its capital Hangzhou and forcing hundreds of coastal residents to move to safe land, according to Chinadaily.Local Zhejiang television station urged relevant departments and staff to be on high alert for any emergencies. It reported more than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in coastal Ningbo and Xiangshan areas. It quoted the Zhejiang Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters that Typhoon Jelawat reached coastal Xiangshan County at 18:30 pm on Thursday, and the typhoon center is moving westward at a speed of 35 metres a second. The typhoon is expected to linger in Zhejiang Province for 20 hours, bring strong winds at force 8-10 and big rains to nearly whole the province, including Ningbo, Shaoxin, Hangzhou, Jiaxin and Huzhou. It could affect the life of 24 million residents in its 40 countries and cities. Officials are still counting any casualties and losses inflicted by the typhoon. Details of damage are not available yet, the television station said. Shanghai, China's largest industrial city, is lucky enough to have escaped from the forefront battering of Jelawat, a source from Shanghai told chinadaily.com.cn report. It cruised through in the seas about 10 kilometres east of the city. On Wednesday, the Shanghai municipal government sent typhoon warnings to sea ports and airports, as Jelawat was moving rapidly toward the city. However, heavy rains and gusts of wind lashed the city before daybreak on Wednesday. |
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