Lekima made landfall as a typhoon with its strength equivalent to a powerful Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic and East Pacific oceans during the early morning hours of Saturday.The powerful typhoon barreled onshore near Shitangzhen, in the province of Zhejiang, around 1 a.m. local time Saturday (1 p.m. EDT Friday).
At least 22 people have been killed and 10 others missing in eastern China since landfall, according to the China Global Television Network (CGTN).Those deaths occurred in a tragic event, triggered by Lekima, in a village in Zhejiang’s Yongjia County.
After a landslide initially blocked a river, water built up and then broke through the earthen dam. The roughly 120 people in the village did not have time to safely evacuate before the flood waters swept downstream.Officials told CGTN that the water level rose up to 10 meters (nearly 33 feet) within 10 minutes.
In anticipation of Lekima’s landfall, the Chinese weather bureau issued a red alert on Friday morning, warning residents of the threat for strong winds, heavy rainfall and coastal impacts. The country has a four-stage color-coded warning system, with red representing the most severe weather.More than one million people in eastern China evacuated ahead of the typhoon. That included about 250,000 residents in Shanghai and another 800,000 in neighboring Zhejiang, according to BBC News.
The typhoon’s powerful winds caused an estimated 2.7 million homes in the area to lose power.
Lekima prompted officials to close Shanghai Disneyland on Saturday, Xinhua reported. That is the first time the park has shut down due to weather since opening in June 2016.Winds at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport gusted to 55 mph (89 km/h) on Saturday.
Thousands of flights were canceled across the region, according to FlightAware, including nearly 2,000 from the two major airports in Shanghai on Saturday.As of Saturday night, Lekima had lost wind intensity and is now a tropical storm.
However, residents across eastern China should not let their guard down as flooding rain will continue to spread from around Shanghai to Shenyang through Tuesday.
“The heaviest rain is expected to extend from Shandong into far eastern Hebei and Tianjin into Jiaoning,” according to Meteorologist . “In these areas, there can be widespread rainfall totals of 6-12 inches (150-300 mm) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 15 inches (375 mm).”As of Saturday night, Lekima had lost wind intensity and is now a tropical storm.
However, residents across eastern China should not let their guard down as flooding rain will continue to spread from around Shanghai to Shenyang through Tuesday.
“The heaviest rain is expected to extend from Shandong into far eastern Hebei and Tianjin into Jiaoning,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty. “In these areas, there can be widespread rainfall totals of 6-12 inches (150-300 mm) with 15 inches (375 mm).”
“River flooding could last for days after the rain ends as water slowly drains to the ocean,” Douty added.Douty anticipates the worst of the heaviest rain to narrowly miss Beijing.”The Beijing area will likely receive some rain, though it is not expected to be enough to cause flooding or major impacts as the heaviest rain falls farther to the east,” he added.
Prior to reaching China, Lekima was briefly a super typhoon at midweek while mainly over open water.
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accu weather