Typhoon Kompasu to brush past

• Source: Global Times
• [08:23 September 01 2010]
• Comments

Dark clouds linger above Lujiazui in Pudong New Area Tuesday. Weather authorities forecast typhoon Kompasu to release strong winds and rains as it brushes by the city today. Photo: Ray Yang

By Shen Weihuang

Students are being granted an extra day of freedom today as authorities have ordered  schools to delay the first day  of the new semester until tomorrow, when typhoon Kompasu is expected to have moved north past the city. 

The  decision  to  cancel  school was made by education authorities at 7 pm Tuesday evening, after local weather authorities informed government officials that the typhoon would brush by the edge of city, releasing strong winds and rainstorms today.

"We know that this decision has been made late, and we're doing everything we can to make sure all students and parents are informed," Yin Houqing, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, told the Global Times Tuesday evening. "We're seeking the help of media to inform residents."

Yin added that teachers and administrative staff have been notified of the change, and are also doing their part to alert students and parents.

Local high school teacher Huang Fei said last night that she received a call from her supervisor around 9 pm, and was trying to reach students.

"I've been calling them one after the other since," Haung, who teaches English at Pudong Foreign Language Middle School of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times Tuesday evening. "Some of them already knew, others didn't."

The cancellation of the first day of school after the summer vacation is the second time for local authorities to take the cautionary measure after the same move was implemented three years ago, when typhoon Wipha struck the city in 2007.

Over at the Expo Park Tuesday evening, organizers of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai were busy preparing for the storms by reinforcing facilities in need of additional support to weather the storms.

The Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau told the Global Times in a written statement that it would have emergency teams on stand-by throughout the day, and that all outdoor performances today would be cancelled.

Meanwhile, airport authorities said that more than 1,000 flights scheduled to depart from and arrive at Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport from last night to today were cancelled or delayed.

"We'll have to wait until we can better assess the situation before we resume normal flight schedules," Liu Youping, a press officer, from Shanghai Pudong International Airport Frontier Inspection Station, told the Global Times Tuesday evening.

According to Sang Baoliang, deputy director of the Shanghai Flood Control Administration, officers were last night preparing evacuation and flood control plans for today.

Local weather authorities said Tuesday evening that the typhoon was unlikely to disrupt the city past today.

"We're monitoring the situation closely, but we don't expect the city to feel the typhoon for too long," Zhang Ruiyi, chief service officer, for the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, told the Global Times Tuesday evening. 

Zhang said that stormy conditions are forecast to settle by the afternoon, adding that residents can log onto their official website smb.gov.cn for regular updates available in Chinese and English.

Zhou Ping contributed to this story