Pavilion checks get started before typhoon season

• Source: Global Times
• [10:25 July 08 2010]
• Comments

By Ni Dandan

As Shanghai braces for its approaching typhoon season, organizers started examining pavilions inside the Expo Park Wednesday to ensure that the structures will be able to withstand heavy rains and windstorms.

Those deemed unsafe will be reinforced in the interest of public safety ahead of the typhoons forecast by local weather authorities later this month or next, Ding Hao, deputy director of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, told reporters Wednesday.

"Pavilion designers mostly took into consideration the appearance of the structure with their work, so we need to make sure that the structures are sturdy enough for unfavorable weather conditions in order to mind the safety of our visitors," he added.

Ding said that structures like the Spain Pavilion, the exterior of which is covered by wicker, may be more vulnerable to stormy weather conditions - and may not survive the wrath of a typhoon with winds up to some 60 kilometers per hour. Organizers are considering covering the structure with a huge net to protect the more than 8,000 independent wicker strips from being blown away by typhoons, he added.

Though the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said Wednesday that the likelihood of a typhoon hitting Shanghai, or one directly impacting the city within the coming weeks cannot be accurately predicted at this time, organizers are proceeding on the side of caution, said Ding.

Meanwhile, as the city continues to face extreme heat, organizers are reminding visitors to come to the park prepared as there is little else more they can do to prevent guests from getting heatstroke.

"We have added more shady spots, electric fans and cool mist-spraying facilities around the park," said Ding. "Unfortunately, we do not have the power to prevent the expected high-temperature days of some 38 or 39 C, which are still to come."

With up to 15 more high-temperature days expected from now through August, visitors are strongly advised to bring a hat, or an umbrella, sunscreen, sunglasses and an empty water bottle that can be filled at fountains around the park - items that will help visitors feel more comfortable un-der the sun.

Ding said that visitors should also mind their limits when touring pavilions as 95 percent of the less than 100 daily visi-tors falling victim to sunstroke in the park have become ill after pushing themselves too hard in hours-long queues, where the concentration of people is high and air ventilation is poor.