(Yicai Global) Sept. 13 -- Flights and trains have been suspended in Shanghai and the surrounding area as the region braces for Typhoon Sandu, currently at the highest level on the Beaufort scale, to make landfall in Shanghai’s Pudong district and along the Jiangsu province coastline tonight.

At Level 12 on the Beaufort scale, with wind speeds reaching 40 meters per second, an orange alert has been issued and all flights into and out of Pudong International Airport cancelled from 11 a.m. China time today and all those into and out of Hongqiao International Airport cancelled from 3 p.m., Shanghai Airport said yesterday.

Sandu, the 14th tropical cyclone so far this year, is currently lashing the north of Zhejiang province, just south of Shanghai, and has dumped 158 millimeters of rain in less than 24 hours. It is expected to release another 280 mm of precipitation in the next 24 hours.

Railway services between Beijing and Shanghai, Shanghai and Suzhou in Jiangsu province as well as between Shanghai and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province have been suspended. Railway authorities in Shanghai have upgraded their typhoon emergency response to Level 1 and have begun flood prevention work.

Editor: Kim Taylor