Shenzhen's railway operator has decided to suspend the operation of 167 trains today and 165 trains tomorrow along the Shenzhen-Hangzhou High-speed Railway, in anticipation of the impact of Typhoon Doksuri on the country’s southeastern coast.
The railway operator plans to suspend 34 trains Saturday and four Sunday, depending on the actual impact brought about by Typhoon Doksuri. The typhoon is expected to make landfall on the coast bordering Guangdong and Fujian provinces tomorrow morning, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to cities in eastern Guangdong.
The Guangdong Meteorological Observatory said yesterday that Doksuri escalated into a super typhoon Monday and is predicted to be the strongest typhoon to make landfall or severely affect part of Guangdong in nearly a decade.
By 4 p.m. yesterday, Doksuri was approximately 783 kilometers southeast of Shenzhen, moving northwesterly at speeds of 10-15 kilometers per hour.
Doksuri, packed with winds at Force 16 and moving at 55 meters per second, was expected to approach central Fujian and eastern Guangdong after entering the South China Sea last night or this morning.
The Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory issued an orange high temperature alert Tuesday, warning of three days of extreme high temperatures caused by Doksuri’s outer air stream.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the highest temperature recorded was 39.1 degrees Celsius in Nanshan Subdistrict, Nanshan District. A total of 215 temperature recording stations reported temperatures above 33 degrees Celsius, and 198 stations recorded temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.
There will be strong convection weather today and heavy rainfall tomorrow and Saturday, according to the observatory. People in Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone have been advised to take precautions against strong winds with speeds reaching 20.4-28 meters per second, which could potentially damage trees and houses.
The China Meteorological Administration raised the emergency response level for Doksuri to Level 2 yesterday, and a red alert for typhoon, the most serious level, was issued for the first time this year. In response to the approaching typhoon, multiple regions have strengthened disaster prevention measures, including suspending schools, transportation, and temporarily closing scenic spots.
The coastal departments of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces have taken precautionary measures for ships.
China’s four-tier emergency response system for meteorological disasters places Level 1 as the most severe, and in the four-tier severe weather warning system, red is the most serious level, followed by orange, yellow and blue.