Janice R. Andrews
Typhoon Bebinca hit land early Monday morning, causing widespread chaos in the city. It was the biggest storm to hit Shanghai in more than 70 years. As strong winds and heavy rain hit the area, flights were stopped, roads were closed, and thousands of people had to leave their homes.
Storm That Breaks Records
The China Meteorological Administration says that Typhoon Bebinca hit land early Monday morning in the Lingang New City area of Pudong, which is on the eastern side of Shanghai. Government-run TV station CCTV says this is the strongest storm to hit the city since Typhoon Gloria in 1949.
Because Bebinca was so strong, the government sent out a red alert, which is the strongest storm notice. Many stores had already closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, so there weren’t as many people out on the streets getting ready for the storm.
Major Problems with Travel
Shanghai’s transportation systems are a mess because of the storm. All flights at Shanghai’s two main airports were delayed, and some train lines and ferries have also been shut down. Beginning at 1:00 a.m. local time, highways were closed, and speed limits on city streets were lowered to 25 miles per hour.
During rush hour, Shanghai’s usually busy streets were oddly quiet, and heavy fog and rain made it hard to see the city’s famous skyline. A lot of people were told to stay inside during the storm to stay safe.
Evacuations and Reports of Damage
Over 9,000 people who lived in the Chongming District, which is at the mouth of the Yangtze River, had to leave their homes because of the storm. In the northern Baoshan District, authorities said that strong winds were cutting through lines of trees by the river.
The city’s flood control offices have already heard of a lot of damage, mostly from trees and signs falling down. CCTV showed video of strong waves crashing against the rocky coast in Zhejiang province, which was close by. This showed how bad the storm was.
Reporters working near the coast had a hard time standing in some places because the winds were so strong. One reporter said, “The surface of the sea is just wave after wave, each higher than the last.”
Effects on the region and worries about climate
Not only has Bebinca changed Shanghai, but it has also changed other places in China and beyond. Japan and the central and southern Philippines were hit by the storm. In the Philippines, six people died when trees fell on them. According to CCTV, Bebinca is going to move northwest and bring more heavy rain and strong winds to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui.
Earlier this month, Yagi, another typhoon, hit the southern part of China’s Hainan island and killed at least four people and hurt 95 others. Concerns about the effects of climate change are growing because of how often and how strong storms like Bebinca and Yagi are happening. China, which releases the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is experiencing more and more extreme weather events.
The coming of Typhoon Bebinca has not only caused a lot of trouble in Shanghai, but it has also made people think about the future of extreme weather events in a bigger way. The storm’s effects are likely to be big, since thousands of people had to leave their homes and all traffic in the city stopped. As the storm continues to move through the area, China is still on high watch and ready for more damage in the eastern parts of the country.
