Lekima Weakens After Disrupting China Transportation System
China Cancels Flights as It Braces for Strongest Typhoon of 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Lekima, which earlier caused cancellation of flights, high-speed train and metro services in China, has weakened to a strong tropical storm.
The National Meteorological Center lowered its typhoon alert on Lekima to yellow from orange, according to a statement Saturday, while maintaining an orange rainstorm alert. China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. The storm, which made landfall in Zhejiang province south of Shanghai earlier in the day, is expected to weaken further as it heads north.
Lekima has so far forced Shanghai to suspend services on several of its metro lines, according to the local government’s official WeChat account. Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines Corp. and China Southern Airlines Co. were among those that announced flight cancellations, and high-speed rail services were affected in multiple cities, according to local media. Taiwanese airlines canceled about 520 international and domestic flights, according to local aviation authorities.
Mainland China’s main financial hub braced for Lekima after the typhoon ravaged Taiwan and Japan. Government offices, schools and businesses, including financial markets, were shut across northern Taiwan Friday. More than 50,000 homes lost power overnight, though electricity was mostly restored by Friday morning.
Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center reported at least one death and four injuries in the wake of the storm.
At least four people were hurt in Okinawa, while flights and ferries across the southern Japanese islands experienced widespread disruptions, according to a report by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said Lekima had sustained wind speeds of 184 kilometers per hour (114 mph), with gusts of 227 kilometers an hour (141 mph) Friday morning. Scott Hsieh, a senior meteorologist at CWB, said it was the strongest typhoon in the western Pacific so far this year.
--With assistance from Adela Lin and Amanda Wang.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Samson Ellis in Taipei at sellis29@bloomberg.net;Amanda Wang in Shanghai at twang234@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Liu at jliu42@bloomberg.net, ;Linus Chua at lchua@bloomberg.net, Young-Sam Cho
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With assistance from Bloomberg