Shanghai Braces for Direct Hit from Typhoon Bebinca

People walk with umbrellas on a bridge amid rains and winds brought by Typhoon Muifa, in Shanghai, China September 14, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk with umbrellas on a bridge amid rains and winds brought by Typhoon Muifa, in Shanghai, China September 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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Shanghai Braces for Direct Hit from Typhoon Bebinca

People walk with umbrellas on a bridge amid rains and winds brought by Typhoon Muifa, in Shanghai, China September 14, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk with umbrellas on a bridge amid rains and winds brought by Typhoon Muifa, in Shanghai, China September 14, 2022. (Reuters)

Shanghai halted transportation links, recalled ships and shut tourism spots including Shanghai Disney Resort on Sunday as it braced for Typhoon Bebinca, in what could be the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Chinese financial hub since 1949.

The Category 1 typhoon, packing maximum sustained wind speeds near its center of around 144 kilometers per hour (89 miles per hour), was about 500 kilometers southeast of Shanghai as of 1:00 p.m. (0500 GMT). It is expected to make landfall along China's eastern coast after midnight on Monday.

The strongest storm to make landfall in Shanghai in recent decades was Typhoon Gloria in 1949, which tore through the city with gusts of 144 kph. Shanghai was last threatened by a direct hit in 2022 by the powerful Typhoon Muifa, which instead landed 300 km away in the city of Zhoushan, in Zhejiang province.

Shanghai is typically spared the strong typhoons that hit further south in China, including Yagi, a destructive Category 4 storm that roared past southern Hainan province last week. But Shanghai and neighboring provinces are taking no chances with Category 1 Bebinca.

Resorts in Shanghai, including Shanghai Disney Resort, Jinjiang Amusement Park and Shanghai Wild Animal Park, have been temporarily closed while most ferries have been halted to and from Chongming Island - China's third-biggest island known as "the gateway to the Yangtze River".

More than 600 flights to and from Shanghai were also cancelled, according to local media.

In Zhejiang, ships have been recalled while several parks in the provincial capital Hangzhou announced closures.

Bebinca's arrival will coincide with the Mid-Autumn festival, a nationwide three-day holiday when many Chinese travel or engage in outdoor activities.

China's Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday issued a Level-IV emergency response - the lowest level in China's four-tier emergency response system - for potential flooding in Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.



King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Joins IUCN Green List

The Green List provides crucial guidelines for conservation and involving stakeholders in sustainable development processes - SPA
The Green List provides crucial guidelines for conservation and involving stakeholders in sustainable development processes - SPA
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King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority Joins IUCN Green List

The Green List provides crucial guidelines for conservation and involving stakeholders in sustainable development processes - SPA
The Green List provides crucial guidelines for conservation and involving stakeholders in sustainable development processes - SPA

The King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority has announced its inclusion in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List.
This recognition follows a comprehensive assessment of the reserve by IUCN experts, who evaluated the authority's environmental and developmental accomplishments, as well as its engagement with the community and preservation efforts, SPA reported.
Authority CEO Abdullah Al-Amer emphasized the significance of this milestone, stating: "Since its establishment, the authority has pursued strategies, development plans, and innovative initiatives to fulfill its core objectives. Through these endeavors, we have successfully met all the key criteria and indicators for joining the IUCN Green List."
Al-Amer attributed this to the support lent by the Saudi leadership and the guidance from Minister of Interior and Chairman of the authority Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz.
Inclusion in the Green List adds to the authority's local and global successes, including receiving the Biodiversity Certificate and designating five critical bird sites within the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve.
Al-Amer stressed that making it on the list is testimony to an effective reserve management and focus on natural resource growth; it now facilitates the growth of over 550 plant species.
The authority's initiatives include planting 2.4 million native tree and shrub seedlings, as well as four tons of local seeds like yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Artemisia, and Haloxylon.
Efforts have been made to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded habitats and relocate 1,235 wildlife species like Arabian oryx, sand gazelles, Arabian gazelles, and Arabian leopards in the reserve.
The authority's achievements are due to its strategic objectives; being on the Green List is a key milestone.
This authority is determined to manage protected areas through sustainable programs focused on environmental conservation, community engagement, and sustainable development, in line with international standards.