BEIJING — A strong typhoon pounded the Chinese coast south of Shanghai on Saturday with strong winds and heavy rainfall, submerging roads, felling trees and forcing the evacuation of 1.1 million people.
Typhoon Chan-hom slammed ashore with winds of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour in Zhoushan, a city east of the port of Ningbo in Zhejiang province. It has dumped more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain since late Friday — about a month's average in less than 24 hours, according to state-run media. As of Saturday evening, local time, no deaths or injuries have been reported.
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Some 1.1 million people were evacuated from coastal areas of Zhejiang and more than 46,000 in neighboring Jiangsu province ahead of the storm, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The provincial flood control bureau said 28,764 ships had been ordered back to port.
The national weather service said earlier that Chan-hom could be the strongest typhoon to strike China since the communist government took power in 1949. In response, the China Meteorological Agency issued a "Level 1 Alert," the country's highest type of weather alert for tropical storms and hurricanes.
Downgraded at midday Saturday to a strong typhoon, Chan-hom was forecast to weaken further. It was initially deemed a super-typhoon.
Heavy downpour was reported in some areas, including the village of Lai'ao, which recorded more than 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain, according to Xinhua.
More than 100 trains and 600 flights were canceled in the cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and Taizhou, the news agency reported. Buses and passenger ferries also suspended their services.
Earlier this week, Chan-hom caused 20 injuries, as it moved over islands in southern Japan, Kyodo News
The storm also dumped rain on the northern Philippines and Taiwan, where several flights were suspended. The stock market and public offices were closed Friday in Taipei, Taiwan's capital.
Chan-hom is the second major storm to hit China this week, after Typhoon Linfa forced 56,000 people from their homes in the southern province of Guangdong province.
Additional reporting by Mashable