Residents of a Chinese city were shocked to see a Ferris wheel cabin swinging uncontrollably on top of the structure during a typhoon today.
Social media footage has captured the scary scene in the southern province of Guangdong after Typhoon Higos made landfall, bringing winds of up to 78 miles (125.5 kilometres) per hour.
It is understood that no one was on the Ferris wheel at the time or injured from the incident. The operator of the ride has called the event a ‘normal phenomenon’.
A clip of the spinning pod in the city of Foshan, southern China, has gone viral on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter. It is understood that no one was on the Ferris wheel at the time
A clip of the spinning pod in the city of Foshan has gone viral on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.
The Ferris wheel, which measures 325 feet (99 metres) in height, was shut from yesterday – along with other rides in the Happy Ocean theme park – in preparation for the adverse weather.
A spokesperson from the park told local news outlet Southern Urban Daily that it was normal for the pods on a Ferris wheel to sway in a circle continuously during cyclones.
She added that it would be safe for the attraction to reopen.
Typhoon Higos has battered parts of southern China since yesterday. The above picture shows dark clouds hanging over the skyline of Shenzhen as Typhoon Higos approaches on Tuesday
A man enters Hong Kong’s IFC mall whose glass door has been reinforced due to the typhoon
Typhoon Higos drenched Hong Kong overnight before making landfall this morning in Zhuhai
Typhoon Higos has battered parts of southern China since yesterday.
It drenched Hong Kong overnight before making landfall in the morning in Zhuhai, a city 87 miles (140 kilometres) south of Foshan. It brought maximum sustained winds of 78mph, China’s National Meteorological Centre said.
The typhoon weakened to a tropical storm as it moved west towards the neighbouring Guangxi region.
More than 65,000 people were evacuated, schools were closed and many fishing boats returned to port along the coast, according to Chinese media reports.
Power was knocked out in Meizhou city in north-eastern Guangdong province on Tuesday night after trees fell on to power lines, the electric company said.
Elsewhere in China, floodwater reached the toes of a famous Buddhist statue for the first time in decades as the country suffered flooding and landslides from unusually heavy seasonal rains.
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, floodwaters flow near the historic Giant Buddha in Leshan in south-western China’s Sichuan Province on Wednesday
A man rides a bicycle during a rainstorm in Macao on Wednesday during Typhoon Higos
It was the first time in at least 70 years that water had reached the foot of the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 233-foot-tall (71-metre-tall) statue carved into the side of a mountain in the eighth century in Sichuan province.
The worst of the flooding appeared to be in Sichuan, but the emergency level was lowered on Wednesday morning, and the toes of the statue re-emerged as waters receded, news reports said.
Emei Mountain, a nearby tourist site, reopened to visitors after being closed for nearly three days.
In addition, five people were missing in Yunnan province in the south-west after a landslide destroyed two houses, the official People’s Daily newspaper said.
In Sichuan province, 21 vehicles parked in a square in Yibin city fell into a hole after the road beneath them collapsed in the middle of the night.
No-one was injured, according to media reports.
On the Yangtze River, the inflow of water into the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam hit a record 2.5million cubic feet (72,000 cubic metres) per second, state media said
Flooding has left more than 200 people dead or missing in China this year and caused 25billion dollars worth of damage, authorities said last week.
The sprawling Chongqing municipality saw its worst flooding since 1981.
Water covered roofs in low-lying areas of the historic town of Ciqikou, which was closed to tourists because of the rains from Tuesday evening.
On the Yangtze River, the inflow of water into the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam hit a record 2.5million cubic feet (72,000 cubic metres) per second, state media said.
The inflow is expected to peak on Thursday at 2.68million cubic feet (76,000 cubic metres) per second, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping visited hard-hit Anhui province, where the 13 sluice gates of the Wagnjiaba dam had been opened, flooding farmland and forests to prevent more extensive damage downriver.