The 13th typhoon of the year, named “Baimolphin” and classified as a super typhoon, was located on August 2 at 8 a.m. in the northwestern Pacific Ocean approximately 2,650 kilometers east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and about 3,600 kilometers away from Nanjing, according to the Office of the Nanjing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. Packing maximum sustained winds of 16 levels near its center, equivalent to 55 meters per second, the storm was tracked moving west-northwestward at a speed of 20 to 25 kilometers per hour with little change in intensity. While its later trajectory carries significant uncertainty, officials warned that an approach and potential landfall along the East China Sea coast could bring strong wind and rain to the city, creating a complex and severe flood-control situation.
Did You Know? Typhoon Baimolphin’s center was tracked at a distance of roughly 3,600 kilometers from Nanjing on the morning of August 2, 2026, possessing a maximum wind force of 16 near its core while moving west-northwest at 20 to 25 kilometers per hour.
Risk Assessment and Inspection Protocols for Nanjing Districts
Local districts and units are instructed by the Office of the Nanjing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to use the defense against Typhoon Bawu as a mirror to review, extract, and solidify effective practices, experiences, and mechanisms. Authorities must deeply examine shortcomings and translate review results into practical defense effectiveness, focusing on command operations, evacuation and shelter, hazard investigation, grassroots emergency response, and early warning releases. Officials emphasize the need to enhance the scientific nature, systematic resilience, and operational quality of typhoon defense work.
All districts and units must maintain a bottom-line mentality and overcome paralysis by preparing for the most adverse impacts of Typhoon Baimolphin. Authorities are instructed to anticipate greater difficulties and draft more meticulous measures to secure all defense preparations. Agencies must seize the window period before the typhoon arrives to conduct thorough, region-wide and industry-wide risk and hidden danger investigations, addressing identified problems immediately or establishing strict emergency measures for issues that cannot be resolved right away.
Infrastructure Inspections Across Construction, Drainage, and Municipal Facilities
Construction sites require rigorous patrols and inspections ordered by responsible entities, targeting ongoing projects, tower cranes, scaffolding, deep foundation pits, temporary enclosures, simple sheds, and bare soil covered with green mesh. Particular attention must be given to reinforcing enclosures and mesh within 500 meters of high-speed railways and expressways to prevent wind-blown debris from triggering secondary traffic hazards. For flood control and drainage, crews are directed to inspect river embankments, reservoirs, ponds, and drainage ditches while comprehensively checking dams, spillways, and structures crossing dikes. Maintenance efforts must be stepped up for drainage pump stations and water gates, alongside continuous clearing of drainage pipe networks, manholes, and rainwater grates.
Property management companies are tasked with guiding residential communities and underground garages to implement anti-backflow measures while stocking up on sandbags, water stopboards, and water pumps. Municipal facilities face comprehensive checks regarding anti-flooding measures across transport roads, tunnels, subways, underpass culverts, interchange bridges, and flooded roads. Outdoor billboards, shop signs, traffic signs, glass curtain walls, and night lighting facilities must undergo safety checks, alongside tree-trimming and reinforcement work to resolve potential conflicts between trees and power or communication lines.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Sectors, Transportation, and Supplies
Key areas including nursing homes, child welfare institutions, and assistance management institutions must undergo wind and flood safety checks, while tourism scenic spots, parks, city walls, and outdoor amusement facilities require thorough inspections. High-risk locations such as flood-prone zones, geological hazard areas, waterside cliffs, river valleys, and culvert openings require increased patrol frequencies, with camping areas and wild exploration routes placed under unified management. Geological hazard spots need frequent patrols focusing on nearby residential housing, farmstay B&Bs, schools, hospitals, and parks to check for loose slopes, border cracking, or water seepage.
Water transport and shipping sectors must secure safety checks for typhoon anchorage positions, safe shelter waters, and port enterprises along the Yangtze River and inland waterways. Power and communication sectors are directed to inspect and maintain power lines, electrical facilities, communication lines, and base stations, prioritizing the identification of hazards like tree-branch interference during storms. Agricultural facilities, including greenhouses and aquaculture installations such as fishing boats, must be inspected and reinforced. Chemical and mining operations, including tailing ponds and hazardous chemical enterprises, are required to run anti-rain, anti-waterlogging, and windproof safety checks.
Evacuation Planning, Resource Readiness, and Public Communication
Emergency response teams and departments must re-inventory flood control and rescue equipment, checking mobile drainage pump trucks, water pumps, sandbags, water stopboards, generators, lighting equipment, excavators, and cranes to verify reserve quantities and storage locations. Professional and grassroots rescue teams are instructed to assemble and stand by for immediate deployment upon discovering any disaster situations. Authorities must also tally the exact numbers of individuals requiring relocation across construction sites, geological hazard points, nursing homes, tailing ponds, dilapidated houses, farming households, and returning vessel crews, while refining evacuation plans and shelter arrangements.
Public awareness campaigns will utilize network media, radio, television, and electronic display screens to reach target groups including enterprise employees, construction workers, agricultural workers, tourists, and students. Channels will deploy AI-frequently asked short videos and online live broadcasts to impart common sense regarding indoor safety, outdoor evacuation, and emergency retreats. Concurrently, meteorological, water affairs, and emergency departments are directed to monitor typhoon developments, track paths, enhance rain and water monitoring, and issue rolling forecasts and joint consultations to support command decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was Typhoon Baimolphin located on August 2, 2026?
According to the Office of the Nanjing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the super typhoon was located at 8 a.m. on August 2 in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,650 kilometers east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and about 3,600 kilometers away from Nanjing.
What wind speeds and movement characteristics were reported for the storm?
The storm featured maximum sustained wind speeds of 16 levels near its center, reaching 55 meters per second, and was forecasted to move west-northwest at 20 to 25 kilometers per hour with little change in intensity.
What specific infrastructure inspections are required for construction sites?
Responsible entities must inspect ongoing construction sites, tower cranes, scaffolding, deep foundation pits, temporary enclosures, simple sheds, and mesh-covered bare soil, with a special emphasis on reinforcing barriers within 500 meters of high-speed railways and expressways.
How might this storm affect the East China Sea region?
While its later path carries notable uncertainty, officials warned that a potential approach and landfall near the East China Sea coast could bring strong wind and rain to Nanjing.
What measures are outlined for urban drainage systems?
Crews must inspect river embankments, reservoirs, dams, and spillways, while maintaining drainage pump stations, water gates, pipe networks, manholes, and rainwater grates, and assisting residential communities in setting up anti-backflow equipment like sandbags and pumps.
How are vulnerable groups managed under the advisory?
Authorities must map out exact numbers for populations in high-risk zones such as construction sites, geological hazard points, nursing homes, tailing ponds, and old houses, refining evacuation plans and shelter arrangements ahead of time.
What public communication methods are planned for safety education?
Agencies will use network media, radio, television, electronic screens, AI science-popularization short videos, and online live broadcasts to distribute evacuation and self-rescue tips to workers, students, tourists, and local residents.
Which municipal departments are involved in tracking the typhoon?
Meteorological, water affairs, and emergency departments are tasked with monitoring typhoon paths, tracking wind and rain data, issuing rolling forecasts, and holding joint consultations.
What equipment is prioritized during supply inventories?
Departments must verify mobile drainage pump trucks, water pumps, sandbags, water stopboards, generators, lighting equipment, excavators, and cranes.
What role do past storms play in current preparations?
Districts and units are instructed to review lessons from Typhoon Bawu, identifying strengths and shortcomings to enhance the systematic resilience of current typhoon defenses.
What are your thoughts on how regional authorities prepare for uncertain storm paths?
Worth a look