Staff members carry sandbags to reinforce river banks to prevent river water from flowing backward caused by typhoon in Jiashan County of Jiaxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 14, 2022. China's national observatory on Wednesday issued a red alert, the most severe warning level, as Typhoon Muifa is expected to make landfall twice later in the day. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
HANGZHOU, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Muifa, the 12th typhoon this year, made landfall on the coast of Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, local authorities have said.
The typhoon packed winds of up to 151.2 kilometers per hour at its center when it landed on the coast of Putuo in the city of Zhoushan, according to the provincial flood control, typhoon and drought relief headquarters.
Muifa is forecast to move northwest at speeds of 25 to 30 kilometers per hour and make a second landfall on the coast -- somewhere between Pinghu in Zhejiang and Pudong in Shanghai -- at a time nearing midnight, according to local meteorological authorities. It is expected to weaken while moving across the provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong, and will gradually become an extratropical cyclone on Friday after entering the Bohai Sea.
The provincial flood control, typhoon and drought relief headquarters upgraded the typhoon emergency response level to Level I -- the highest level -- at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Local authorities also issued a red alert for flash floods on Wednesday morning.
As of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, over 1.3 million Zhejiang residents have been relocated to avoid potential casualties. As of noon on Tuesday, a total of 11,680 fishing boats have returned to port. ■
