Typhoon disrupts transport

Many flights, trains canceled in coastal area. Residents relocated as storm makes landfall.

Hundreds of weekend flights and high-speed trains were canceled or suspended as Typhoon Nepartak was set to make landfall in Fujian province on Saturday morning.

Nepartak was expected to hit Fujian's coastal areas, before heading northeast, the National Meteorological Center said on Friday.

An online statement released by officials at Xiamen airport said 245 flights had been canceled as of Friday afternoon. A report on Fuzhou airport's micro blog announced that at least 170 flights had been canceled on Saturday and Sunday as emergency-response measures were put into operation.

Passengers were advised to contact airlines or visit the airports' official websites and Sina Weibo accounts for the latest flight information.

Also on Friday, the Shanghai Railway Bureau announced that it had suspended 272 high-speed trains scheduled to run through Fujian on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in anticipation of the typhoon's arrival.

Railway authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said the city's train station suspended 92 trains to coastal regions from Friday to Sunday.

A total of 37,521 people have been relocated in Wenzhou as winds on the sea near the city grow stronger, according to the city's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

In Fujian, local authorities said tourist attractions have been closed, including Gulangyu Island, a popular resort off the coast of Xiamen.

In Pingtan county, the mainland's nearest point to Taiwan, workers tore down potential hazards, such as advertising billboards and road signs, on Friday, according to local media reports.

Reaching speeds of 198 km/h as it crossed Taiwan, Nepartak left two people dead and 66 injured, while more than 15,400 residents were relocated, the China News Service reported.

The typhoon is expected to result in about 300 millimeters of rain in parts of the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and also in Taiwan, the National Meteorological Center said.

Winds of magnitude 13 to 14 are forecast in affected areas, while parts of the East and South Chinas seas could see winds of magnitude 7 to 8, the center said.