Shanghai relocates hundreds of thousands due to tropical storm

BEIJING - Shanghai relocated more than 280,000 people, halted hundreds of flights and ferry services and imposed speed limits on roads and railways on July 30 as a tropical storm whipped eastern China with gales and heavy rain.

Typhoon Co-May’s landfall in the port city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province in the early hours of July 30 was soon followed by warnings of a tsunami set off by a powerful earthquake off Russia’s far east, raising concerns of larger-than-expected storm surges along the Chinese coast.

Authorities lifted the tsunami warnings for Shanghai and Zhoushan later in the day.

While the winds ushered in by Typhoon Co-May are weaker than those generated by typhoons, the Chinese financial hub and other cities in the Yangtze delta have taken no chances.

At least 640 flights could be cancelled at Shanghai’s two main airports on July 30, including 410 at Pudong and 230 at Hongqiao, authorities said.

All ferry services in Shanghai had been cancelled since July 30 morning, and drivers were told to drive under 60kmh on highways, local media reported.

Co-May made landfall in Shanghai at 4.40pm (4.40pm Singapore time), with wind speeds similar to when the storm landed in Zhoushan earlier, at 83 kmh.

Rainfall of up to 100mm - about a month’s worth - is expected within a six-hour period in the city, said municipal authorities, warning about potential waterlogging around the city centre.

While some parks and the zoo have closed, Shanghai’s Disneyland and Legoland remained open. But some rides and performances would be suspended at Legoland due to weather conditions, the park said.

Airports at nearby cities Ningbo, Wenzhou and Hangzhou also saw flight cancellations and diversions. As of July 30 morning, more than 75 per cent of the day’s flights at Zhoushan had been cancelled.

Some train services in the region were temporarily suspended with others operated under restricted speeds, state media said.

Shanghai is rarely subject to direct hits from strong typhoons that generally make landfall further south in China.

The most significant typhoon in recent years that landed directly in Shanghai was Bebinca in 2024, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China’s financial capital since 1949.

Co-May made landfall in Zhoushan in the early hours of July 30 with maximum sustained wind speeds near its centre of 83kmh. Forecasters expect Co-May to make another landfall closer to Shanghai later on July 30.

The storm coincided with a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, about 4,000km from Shanghai.

Before noon on July 30, China’s National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center said the tsunami was expected to have a “disastrous impact” on some parts of China’s coast, including Shanghai and Zhoushan.

However, Shanghai’s municipal earthquake agency later issued a statement discounting potentially “disastrous impacts”.

Although nearby coastal regions could see water levels rise by up to 180cm in the evening, tidal waves around the city will not exceed warning levels, Shanghai’s marine forecasting centre said, according to state media reports. REUTERS