Typhoon Tapah Hits China: Flights Grounded, Schools Shut, Mass Evacuations

Guangzhou (The Uttam Hindu): Typhoon Tapah, the 16th typhoon of this year, hit South China's Guangdong province on Monday morning. In view of this, schools were closed and thousands of residents were evacuated to safer places to avoid the storm. According to the Guangdong Meteorological Observatory, the storm with maximum winds of 30 meters per second hit the coast at Taishan, a county-level city of Jiangmen city, at around 8:50 am.

Classes for about 120,000 students at 182 schools and kindergartens in Taishan were suspended, while more than 41,000 people in Jiangmen were evacuated to safer areas. Jiangmen's Maritime Bureau said it had already deployed 43 volunteer marine rescue teams and 30 ships to deal with potential emergencies. More than 3,300 emergency personnel are on standby in Taishan.

Authorities in neighbouring Yangjiang city opened emergency shelters for local residents on Monday. Parts of Guangdong hit by the storm experienced heavy rain and strong winds on Monday. Meteorological officials forecast that Tapah would continue moving northwest at about 20 kilometres per hour and gradually weaken, according to news agency Xinhua.

Earlier, the Hong Kong Observatory first issued a No. 8 signal on Sunday evening due to Typhoon Tapah, which is the third highest alert under Hong Kong's five-level typhoon warning system. The Hong Kong Airport Authority expects about 100 flights to be cancelled on Monday. Amusement parks and clinics are closed in the wake of Tapah. Cross-sea trains to and from China's Hainan province have been cancelled or rerouted.

In Yangjiang city alone, a total of 1,785 workers had been evacuated from 26 offshore wind power platforms by 9 a.m. Sunday, officials said. In addition, 2,026 people were evacuated from fish farms and 342 from marine farms. Twelve coastal tourist spots have also been closed.