Typhoon Bebinca makes landfall in Shanghai; largest to hit city in 75 years

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Typhoon Bebinca made landfall early Monday in China’s financial hub of Shanghai, bringing strong winds and torrential areas to the region.

The storm made landfall at around 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT) on Monday in the coastal area of Lingang New City in Shanghai’s Pudong region, the China Meteorological Administration said.

The typhoon was packing maximum winds of around 151 kilometers/hour near its center.

Following its landfall, Bebinca is expected to lose strength and become a tropical storm as it moves northwestward across southern Jiangsu province on Monday.

It will further weaken into a tropical depression and eventually dissipate as it passes over Anhui province by the afternoon of 17 September.

Bebinca is the strongest storm to hit Shanghai since Typhoon Gloria in 1949, according to state news media.

Shanghai, a city with a population of 25 million, activated its highest level of emergency response on Sunday.

This included halting railway services, closing ports, bridges, and highways, and cancelling all flights at its two airports.

These disruptions are occurring during China’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival public holiday which began on Sunday.

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on 15 September activated the Level IV emergency response for east China’s Anhui Province and raised the response in Shanghai and Zhejiang to Level III.

Level IV is the lowest emergency response level, indicating a potential threat but not an immediate crisis.

Typhoon Bebinca was on the heels of Super Typhoon Yagi, which recently devastated Hainan Island in southern China, resulting in extensive damage.

Yagi then continued its destructive path into northern Vietnam and Thailand, causing floods and damaging infrastructure.

Thumbnail image: A man walks a street during heavy rain amid Typhoon Bebinca in Shanghai, China on 16 September 2024. Shanghai has closed its seaports and canceled over 600 flights in preparation for Typhoon Bebinca. (ALEX PLAVEVSKI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)