Double whammy in China: Shanghai braces for Typhoon, tsunami warning in coastal areas
Nearly 283,000 residents have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in and around Shanghai as Typhoon Co-May approaches with torrential rains and powerful winds.
As Typhoon Co-May bears down on China’s eastern coast and tsunami warnings ripple across the Pacific following a massive earthquake in Russia, the country is grappling with a double threat of natural disasters.
Nearly 283,000 residents have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in and around Shanghai as Typhoon Co-May - locally known as Zhu Jie Cao - approaches with torrential rains and powerful winds. The storm, expected to make landfall south of the city later Wednesday, could deliver up to 320 millimeters of rain in just 24 hours, raising concerns over flash flooding and landslides.
“From last night to 10:00 am today, 282,800 people have been evacuated and relocated, basically achieving the goal of evacuating all those who needed to be evacuated,” reported state broadcaster CCTV.
Track live updates on Tsunami warning in US
The typhoon has disrupted transportation citywide. Ferry services have been suspended, highway speed limits reduced, and, according to the airport operator, nearly 30% of all flights in and out of Pudong and Hongqiao airports were cancelled.
Authorities activated a level-one emergency response - the highest - for flood and typhoon prevention. Thousands were moved from high-risk areas, and construction across the city was halted to reduce hazards from high winds.
Yangshan Port, the world's largest container port, suspended operations Tuesday, and major oil hubs in Zhoushan went into emergency mode, urging workers to implement safety protocols.
The storm follows Co-May's destructive path through the Philippines and Okinawa, Japan, and arrives just as Asia-Pacific nations reel from an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, one of the strongest ever recorded in the region.
Tsunami warnings in Japan, US
The quake triggered tsunami waves up to 12 feet and prompted evacuations across Russia's Far East, Japan, and as far as Hawaii and the western coastlines of the Americas.
After the massive 8.8 earthquake struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, additional tsunami warnings have also been issued in China, Peru and Ecuador.
Russia reported flooding in the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, where roughly 2,000 residents were evacuated. Several injuries were reported, though none were serious. Local footage showed entire buildings partially submerged in seawater. The Kamchatka region declared a state of emergency, and aftershocks up to magnitude 7.5 are still expected.
In Japan, nearly two million residents were advised to evacuate coastal areas. A 1.3-meter tsunami struck Iwate Prefecture, though no damage was reported. Nearby, workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant were evacuated as a precaution.
Across the Pacific, Hawaii activated its highest tsunami alert, ordering vessels out to sea and halting flights into Maui. Governor Josh Green said authorities were still awaiting a final assessment but had not yet seen significant wave activity.
Tsunami alerts reached as far as California, Chile, Ecuador, New Zealand, and French Polynesia, with the US Tsunami Warning Centers cautioning that waves of up to 3 meters could strike vulnerable coastlines.
