XIANGYANG, China, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Typhoon Dolphin churned deeper inland to the central Chinese province of Hubei on Tuesday, prompting the closure of tourist areas and suspension of construction projects, as forecasters warned of the danger of extreme rainfall in the province’s mountainous northwest.
The strongest typhoon to hit China this year, Dolphin packed an unusually resilient storm system that travelled nearly 6,000 km (3,728 miles) before making landfall over the weekend, drenching the country’s eastern coast and bringing with it a sprawling cloud field.
Hubei, a major auto and high-tech electronics manufacturing hub and home to more than 58 million people, was struck by two rare tornadoes last month in the wake of Typhoon Maysak, which killed at least 11 people.
On Tuesday, the National Meteorological Center renewed an orange alert for heavy rain, the second-highest warning level, with northwestern Hubei expected to receive as much as 250 mm of rain in a 24-hour period.
Hubei authorities have issued a yellow warning for cities including Xiangyang, Huanggang and Suizhou, citing a heightened risk of flooding and landslides.
Scenic areas across the province have announced temporary closures, including the popular Three Gorges Dam tourist area in Yichang. Of 107 major highway and waterway construction projects underway in the province, 26 projects deemed high-risk have been suspended.
BEIJING BRACES FOR TORRENTIAL RAIN
Dolphin’s peripheral airflow will be forced to rise when it encounters the mountains in Hubei’s western region, causing rainfall to intensify several times over, Wang Xiaoling, deputy director of Hubei’s provincial meteorological observatory, told local newspaper Hubei Daily.
In neighbouring Henan province, authorities issued a red flash-flood alert as the storm continues to channel moisture northward.
The storm’s reach will be felt as far as Beijing, more than 1,000 km to the north of Hubei. Four districts on the capital’s outskirts activated Level I emergency flood responses, as the city braced for the expected onset of more than one-third of its annual rainfall over 24 hours starting late on Tuesday.
Japan is also preparing for landslides, flooding and strong winds after the Japan Meteorological Agency said Typhoon No. 15, Chan-hom, could move across Japan’s mainland later on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Liz Lee, Nicoco Chan and Go Nakamura ; Additional reporting by Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo in Beijing, Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
