Shanghai cuts transport as Typhoon Chanthu moves up coast

Flights and train service were being canceled in Shanghai, China’s largest city, as Typhoon Chanthu moved up the mainland coast yesterday after bringing heavy rain and wind to Taiwan.
Local media reported all flights would be suspended from Shanghai’s two airports as of 3 p.m. yesterday. Some subway lines were shut down, while classes and many offices and shops were closed for the day.
The typhoon was in waters off Shanghai by mid-afternoon, with maximum winds of 151 kilometers per hour, the China Meteorological Association said.
Chanthu drenched Taiwan with up to 13 centimeters of rain on Sunday as the storm’s center passed the island’s east coast with winds of 162 kph and gusts up to 198 kph, before heading north to Shanghai.
After dumping rain on Shanghai, Chanthu is forecast to head a bit farther north and then tack northeast toward South Korea and Japan.
The storm grazed the island of Luzon in the Philippines last week, but no flooding or damage was reported.
Typhoons are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific and eastern North Pacific, but are the same weather phenomenon.
Typhoon In-fa made landfall south of Shanghai in late July, disrupting flight schedules and prompting evacuations for about 330,000 residents of Fengxian District on the city’s southern edge.
Torrential rains and flooding in July caused the deaths of at least 292 people in Zhengzhou, a major city in the central province of Henan, including some trapped in the city’s subway tunnels. MDT/AP