After Bebinca, here comes Pulasan. The Chinese megacity of Shanghai was hit on Friday, September 20 by a second typhoon in less than a week. The typhoon made landfall during the night, forcing the evacuation of some 112,000 people, the suspension of some transport services, such as ferries and trains, as well as flooding in some neighborhoods.
Two weather stations recorded more than 300 millimeters of rainfall in the space of six hours, the heaviest in their respective districts since records began, reports the government news agency Xinhua. The latter also reported winds of up to 83 km/h.
Pulasan “is expected to gradually weaken as it moves inland,” Xinhua said, although downpours continued to hit Shanghai on Friday morning. Many areas flooded earlier in the morning have been cleared.
Vehicles drive on a flooded road in Shanghai, east China, September 20, 2024
Heavy damage early in the week
Typhoon Pulasan comes days after Bebinca, the strongest storm to hit the megacity since 1949, caused widespread damage on Monday. With winds of up to 151 km/h, Bebinca uprooted more than 1,800 trees and knocked out power to 30,000 homes. Authorities evacuated 414,000 people in Shanghai in anticipation of the storm.
With climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, typhoons are forming closer to shore, intensifying faster and staying over land longer, climate scientists warn.
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