Typhoon Chan-Hom weakens after striking Chinese coast

BEIJING: Typhoon Chan-Hom, which wreaked havoc in parts of China's coast, has weakened as it moved northeast, prompting the country's meteorological authority to downgrade the alert from red to orange today.

Chan-Hom, the ninth typhoon this year, hit northern area of the east China sea yesterday, packing winds of up to 35 metres per second, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

The center forecast the typhoon to move northeast at a speed of 30 kilometres per hour to reach the Yellow sea. Its forces will gradually weaken along the way.

The provinces of Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang will be hit by rainstorms till tomorrow, while strong gales of up to level 13 is forecast in the Yellow sea, prompting the NMC to issue a blue rainstorm alert.

In Zhejiang province, which bore the brunt of typhoon's force, more than 710,000 people were affected and 81,460 hectares of farmland damaged.

So far, no casualties have been reported, state-run news agency Xinhua reported today.

About 1.07 million people in the province had been evacuated and 29,641 ships recalled to port. The water level of 51 large and medium-sized reservoirs had exceeded the danger level. Some 94 houses collapsed and 11,224 enterprises closed due to flooding.

Over 600 flights were cancelled yesterday in the cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and Taizhou. More than 7,300 coaches and all passenger ships also suspended their services.