Typhoon Khanun hits eastern China, one million evacuated

Typhoon Khanun has slammed into eastern China's Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, forcing the evacuation of over one million people and disrupting hundreds of flights, the state media reported on Monday. However, no injuries were reported yet.

Khanun, the 15th typhoon of the year, unleashed strong winds and torrential rains inundating several counties and towns in Zhejiang and even causing blackouts in parts of the province, according to the Xinhua news agency. 

The provincial government in Zhejiang evacuated over eight lakh people to safer places and recalled more than 35,000 ships and vessels to ports. Bus services to Taizhou and Wenzhou, the two worst-hit areas, were temporarily stopped and several inter-provincial highways were shut down.

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Khanun, the Thai word for jackfruit, forced Wenzhou International Airport to suspend most flights on Sunday afternoon. Airports in Ningbo and Hangzhou were also affected.

The provincial observatory forecast that the typhoon centre, which has been moving northwestward at 25 km per hour, has crossed over to neighbouring Jiangsu Province on Monday.

The local government has urged people to stay at home, institutions to cancel planned gatherings and departments concerned to keep a close eye on the movement of the typhoon. Shanghai, China's economic hub and also a neighbouring municipality of Zhejiang, has already evacuated 100,000 people.

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The municipal observatory has upgraded its typhoon emergency warning from yellow to red. Some 116 flights were suspended in Pudong and Hongqiao airports in Shanghai on Sunday due to the typhoon.