Typhoon Saola causes major disruptions in Guangdong

Typhoon Saola disrupted traffic and delayed schools in major cities on the eastern coast of Guangdong before it made landfall in the southern province.

The heavy downpours Saola is bringing have forced a total of 76 pairs of passenger trains operating between Guangzhou South Railway Station and Fuzhou in Fujian province, and Shantou and Meizhou in eastern part of Guangdong province to temporarily suspend or make detours to ensure the safety of passengers, railway authorities said.

High speed train service in the Guangdong section of Hangzhou-Shenzhen railway will be suspended starting 4 pm on Thursday while high speed train service on the Guangdong section of the Beijing-Hong Kong railway will also be suspended starting Friday, said railway authorities.

Meanwhile, part of the ferry services operating between Pazhou Ferry Terminal, located in the downtown area of Guangzhou's Haizhu district, and the China Hong Kong City terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong international airport have been suspended beginning Thursday and the ferry services between Hong Kong and Guangdong will be fully suspended on Friday.

Eight ferry services operating in eastern coastal cities, including Huizhou, Shanwei and Shantou, have also been temporarily suspended to avoid marine accidents starting Thursday.

Saola, the ninth typhoon to hit the Chinese coast this year, is moving at a speed of more than 10 kilometers an hour toward Guangdong's eastern coast on Thursday, bringing strong gales and heavy rainfalls.

Saola is estimated to slam into Guangdong coast on Friday.

Affected by Saola, major cities in Guangdong's eastern coast have experienced heavy rainfall on starting Monday.

To brace for the strong typhoon, all the fishing boats and the ships operating at sea have been required to return to shelters and all fishermen and offshore workers were ordered to go ashore on Thursday.

Also, education departments in the cities of Huizhou, Shantou, Shanwei and Chaozhou have have asked schools to postpone the start of the autumn semester to next Monday.

Traditionally, schools in China usually start their autumn semester on Sept 1, which falls on Friday this year.