Typhoon forces evacuation, disrupts transportation in E China

FUZHOU -- A typhoon forecast to hit China's eastern coast has forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people and suspended trains and flights.

A total of 37,521 people have been relocated in the coastal city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province as winds on the sea near the city grow stronger, affected by Nepartak, this year's first typhoon, according to Wenzhou's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Nepartak is expected to reach the coast of Fujian Province on Saturday morning after landing at 5:50 a.m. on Friday at Taiwan's Taitung, packing winds of up to 55 meters per second.

The National Meteorological Center said the typhoon will continue to bring gales and torrential rain to coastal regions of Fujian and Zhejiang from Friday to Saturday, it said.

Zhejiang's maritime monitoring center predicted waves as high as three to four meters on Saturday night in waters south of the province.

On Friday, 170 flights were canceled at the airport in Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian Province, and 245 in the airport of Xiamen City of Fujian.

Railway authorities in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, said the city's train station suspended 92 trains to coastal regions, including Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, from Friday to Sunday.

The train station in Nanjing City, capital of Jiangsu Province, said 16 high-speed trains heading to Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces on Friday and Saturday were suspended.

Tourists on Gulangyu Island, administered by Xiamen City, were asked to return to the city before 4 p.m. on Friday, and the scenic spot will be temporarily closed.