Heavy rains hit eastern China from weakening tropical storm

Typhoon Hagupit over Taiwan, center left. At noon, the tropical storm had winds of up to 67 mph. Picture: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

Heavy rains and high winds were hitting China’s eastern coastal region today from a tropical storm weakening as it neared Shanghai.

The skies over the financial hub were overcast ahead of rain later in the day.

Hagiput was a typhoon with winds blowing up to 85 miles per hour at its centre when it made landfall in Zhejiang province in the early morning.

At noon, the tropical storm had winds of up to 67 mph and was moving north at around 16 mph, China’s National Meteorological Centre said.

Typhoon #Hagupit hit the coast of East #China 's #Zhejiang province, over 380,000 people relocated. #Typhoons pic.twitter.com/aKgI2go8eQ

— CGTN Frontline (@Frontlinestory) August 4, 2020

No major destruction or injuries have been reported.

State broadcaster CCTV showed trees toppled in the Zhejiang city of Yuhuan.

In the major Zhejiang manufacturing centre of Wenzhou, south of Shanghai, authorities reported evacuating 200,000 people to shelters and recalling more than 6,000 fishing boats to port.

Waves along the coast were reported at heights of 4.2 metres (14ft).

This year’s typhoon season has been relatively mild in China, although flooding since June along its major river systems has caused scores of deaths, forced around two million people to be evacuated and caused more than 49 billion yuan in damage.