Super typhoon Talim to hit southeastern China, evacuation to as many as 500,000

Hundreds of thousands could be evacuated as super typhoon Talim is set to hit southeastern China this week. It is forecast to strike several cities along central and northern sections of the Fujian coastline, including Fuzhou and Ningde. The typhoon was first spotted to the east of the Philippines on Saturday. It has been steadily gathering strength and is expected to be a super typhoon by the time it hits land. This is the highest level in China’s typhoon rating system. Liu Aiming, chief engineer at the province’s meteorological bureau, said that evacuation notices could be issued to as many as 400,000 or 500,000 people, though the exact figure was subject to change as the situation was still evolving. Authorities in southeastern China will begin evacuating up to half a million people from their homes on Tuesday as the region braces for this “giant” typhoon. If people chose not to leave, they would be forced to do so by inspection teams made up of Communist Party and government officials, she said.

Although Typhoon Talim was formed to the east of the Philippines, it is expected to spare the country. Talim is expected to move across the western part of the north Pacific – in the general direction of the Luzon Strait and Taiwan – in the next couple of days, the Hong Kong Observatory said. It is predicted to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and develop into a super typhoon on Wednesday. Talim will very likely come within 800km of Hong Kong on Thursday, which could trigger storm signal No 1. It is too early to tell if the No 8 signal will be hoisted for the fifth time this year, an observatory spokesman said.