MENA Newswire News Desk: Typhoon Bebinca made a powerful landfall in Shanghai at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, unleashing strong winds and torrential rains across the city’s Pudong business district. With maximum wind speeds of 151 kilometers per hour (94 mph) near the storm’s center, it is the strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai since at least 1949. Authorities quickly responded by evacuating over 400,000 residents from high-risk areas in and around the city.
The typhoon also disrupted transportation services across Shanghai and neighboring provinces, particularly during China’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival, a major travel period. Shanghai’s airports canceled hundreds of flights beginning Sunday and continuing into Monday. In Hangzhou, approximately 170 kilometers (106 miles) southwest of Shanghai, more than 180 flights were also canceled. Ferry and train services were halted in both the megacity and its surrounding areas, adding to the chaos. More than 60,000 emergency responders, including firefighters, were deployed to assist those affected by the storm, state media reported.
Authorities warned that Typhoon Bebinca could also bring dangerous conditions to the nearby provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui, with ongoing concerns about flooding and landslides. Typhoons of this magnitude are rare in Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, as they typically hit further south. Nonetheless, the city braced for Bebinca’s impact, as the storm forced the mass evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents.
Earlier this month, Typhoon Yagi, another major storm, wreaked havoc across China’s southern Hainan island and other parts of Southeast Asia. Yagi left a trail of destruction, resulting in at least 74 deaths in Myanmar, with more casualties reported in Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. While Bebinca’s impact is still unfolding, authorities are preparing for potential long-term disruptions, with emergency services on high alert as they work to minimize casualties and damage.