Typhoon Bebinca lands in Shanghai, strongest storm to hit city since 1949

BEIJING: Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in Shanghai Monday morning (Sept 16) as a Category 1 storm, the most powerful tropical cyclone to directly hit the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades.

Packing top wind speeds of 151kmh near its eye, Bebinca landed in the city of nearly 25 million around 7.30am, state media reported, the strongest storm to strike Shanghai since Typhoon Gloria in 1949.

Shanghai is rarely subject to direct hits from strong typhoons that generally make landfall further south in China. Yagi, a destructive Category 4 storm, roared past southern Hainan province last week.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled from the city’s two airports since the night of Sept 15 and Shanghai railway station has suspended some rail services. These disruptions come as China celebrates the three-day mid-Autumn Festival public holiday.

Resorts in Shanghai, including Shanghai Disney Resort, Jinjiang Amusement Park and Shanghai Wild Animal Park, have been temporarily closed and many ferries halted.

Beijing’s Emergency Management Ministry said in a statement on Sept 14 that the storm would cause “heavy to torrential” downpours, with “local heavy or extremely heavy rainstorms” between Sept 15 and 17.

Officials held a meeting on Sept 14 to “research and deploy flood and typhoon control work in key areas”, it said.

The strongest storm to make landfall in Shanghai in recent decades was Typhoon Gloria in 1949, which tore through the city with gusts of 144kmh. Shanghai was last threatened by a direct hit in 2022 by the powerful Typhoon Muifa, which instead landed 300km away in the city of Zhoushan, in Zhejiang province. – Agencies