China’s coastal regions on high alert as Typhoon Saudel cancels flights, ferries

Airports in China’s Zhejiang and Fujian provinces remained on high alert for potential delays and cancellations as Typhoon Saudel approached landfall on Wednesday, after multiple flights were cancelled in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Saudel, which entered the East China Sea early on Wednesday morning, led to 16 cancelled flights at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. Affected carriers included Peach, China Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux and Thai Lion Air.

Hong Kong Airlines fully cancelled its HX658/HX659 flights between the city and Japan’s Okinawa, while HK Express rescheduled its Okinawa-bound services to August 27 in response to the weather system.

Saudel is the seventh typhoon to make landfall in China this year, after previous ones including Bavi brought torrential rain and floods.

The National Meteorological Centre (NMC) forecasts that Saudel will make landfall between Thursday night and Friday morning along the coast from Xiangshan in eastern Zhejiang, to Fuqing in southeast Fujian province.

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Zhejiang province has raised its emergency response to Level 3 – the third highest of four levels – and closed all coastal scenic areas, evacuating more than 4,100 tourists from island resorts.