Typhoon Hagupit makes landfall in east China, bringing torrential rain to Zhejiang, Fujian provinces

Motorists driving through the rain brought on by Typhoon Hagupit in Taipei, Taiwan, on Aug 3, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

HANGZHOU (XINHUA) - Hagupit, the fourth typhoon this year, landed in east China's Zhejiang province in the wee hours of Tuesday (Aug 4), the National Meteorological Centre said.

Hagupit landed on the coastal areas of Yueqing, a county-level city under the administration of the city of Wenzhou, at around 3.30am local time, packing winds of 38m per second near its centre.

It brought torrential rain to Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, with gales forecast in areas such as the western and southern parts of the East China Sea, the Yangtze River Estuary, and the coastal areas of Zhejiang and north-eastern Fujian.

The National Meteorological Centre upgraded its typhoon alert at 6pm on Monday from yellow to orange, and renewed the alert at 6am on Tuesday, based on a four-tier colour-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

It forecast that the typhoon will track north and pass through Zhejiang, with its intensity gradually weakening. The typhoon is expected to leave Zhejiang on Tuesday night and enter the western Yellow Sea via northern Jiangsu on Wednesday, before moving towards the western coast of the Korean peninsula.

By 10pm on Monday, Zhejiang had evacuated 381,375 people. Some train services and construction work in Fujian were halted, with boats pulled ashore and nearby residents evacuated.

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