Ports cleared, railway suspended as typhoon approaches east China

HANGZHOU/SHANGHAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- East China's Zhejiang Province upgraded its emergency response to Typhoon In-Fa to the highest Level I from Saturday noon, the provincial emergency management department said.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, the center of In-Fa, the sixth typhoon this year, was located about 395 km southeast of Xiangshan County in Zhejiang, with a maximum wind force of 144 km per hour, according to the provincial meteorological department.

The department expects the typhoon to move northwestward at a speed of 15 km per hour, and make landfall in the eastern or northeastern coastal areas of Zhejiang between the afternoon and night on Sunday.

The Zhejiang emergency management department has urged immediate flood prevention measures, saying that school classes, production, market, and road traffic shall be suspended when necessary.

In its neighboring city of Shanghai, Yangshan Port has evacuated hundreds of vessels as the wind force off the coast has reached around 89 to 102 km per hour and will continue to strengthen, according to the port's bureau of maritime affairs. All large container ships had been evacuated in the early hours of Saturday.

From Saturday to next Thursday, railway sections that are expected to be affected by Typhoon In-Fa in the Yangtze River Delta region are suspended to ensure the safety of passengers, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group Co., Ltd.