Typhoon Danas triggers evacuations, closures in Zhejiang and Fujian

As Typhoon Danas sweeps through the eastern coast of the Chinese mainland, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces have responded with large-scale evacuations, transport suspensions, and school closures.

After striking Dongtou district of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, at 9:25 pm on Tuesday, Danas then moved offshore and made another landfall in Rui'an, Wenzhou, at 11:45 pm. The storm weakened gradually while moving southwest into Fujian early Wednesday after its third landfall near Rui'an, bringing torrential rain and strong winds, triggering widespread emergency responses.

In Zhejiang, mass evacuations and transport suspensions were carried out. By 10 am Tuesday, 71,000 people had been relocated from high-risk zones, including coastal areas, islands, flood-prone regions, geological hazard sites, and dilapidated housing. Nearly 64,000 of the evacuees were from the Wenzhou-Taizhou area.

The province implemented widespread shutdowns to comply with strict safety measures, suspending 118 passenger ferry routes, grounding 577 leisure fishing boats, and canceling 372 train services. Additionally, 68 grade-A tourist sites and 70 high-risk tourism projects were closed as part of the precautions.

Fujian suspended educational activities and issued heightened alerts for geological hazards. Education authorities in Fuzhou and Ningde suspended all activities for Wednesday. This precaution followed warnings of high risks of geological hazards across multiple counties. Public transport suspensions and scenic area closures have been extended across affected regions.

The storm continues weakening as it moves inland, but heavy rainfall and associated risks persist across Fujian and parts of Guangdong.

Zhejiang lowered its typhoon emergency response to Level IV at 1 pm Wednesday as Danas weakened, yet still warned of continued heavy rain in southern regions.