This year's latest typhoon is expected to blow into east China
this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
The Central Meteorological Observatory (CMO) yesterday predicted
Typhoon Saomai will make landfall in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
Saomai comes hot on the heels of Typhoon Prapiroon, which killed
around 80 people in south China last week.
And as the typhoon nears, a weaker storm, Bopha, is closing in
on the Guangdong coast.
"Saomai will affect regions south of the Yangtze River and
coastal areas in Fujian Province," said CMO meteorologist Xu
Yinglong.
The typhoon is expected to wreak further havoc as it moves
northwest after landing, but Xu said the damage will not be as
severe as the destruction wreaked by Typhoon Bilis, which caused
hundreds of deaths in southern China last month.
Considering the distance between Saomai and Bopha, interaction
between the two storms will not be as "mighty," meteorologists
said.
Saomai, the eighth tropical storm to close in on China this
year, was about 840 kilometers southeast of Wenzhou in east China's
Zhejiang Province yesterday.
Local authorities in Zhejiang began evacuating residents as a
combination of heavy rain, gusty winds and a high tide, all caused
by Saomai, began assaulting the area.
Residents in mountainous areas around Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo
and Lishui were advised to beware of possible landslides, mud-rock
flows, floods and other disasters, while schools were ordered to
prepare for the storm.
Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has urged meteorological observatories
to keep a keen eye on the typhoon.
Gathering strength, Saomai was moving in a northwest-west
direction between 25 and 30 kph, and expected to enter the east
China Sea either last night or this morning.
It is expected to come ashore between noon and early this
evening at the coastal areas between Wenling in Zhejiang and
Changle in Fujian.
Due to the typhoon's influence, Zhejiang is likely to experience
a combination of heavy rain, strong winds and high tides.
The Office of Flood and Drought Relief in Zhejiang has ordered
all ships to return to harbor and warned sea-based businesses to
prepare for potential losses.
In Taizhou, more than 7,000 fishing boats have sought shelter,
an official with the city's anti-flood department said yesterday.
In Ningbo, the number stood at more than 10,000.
"We have issued documents ordering all of those dwelling behind
unsecured seawalls to be evacuated," said an official, surnamed Xu,
from Ningbo's anti-flood department.
(China Daily August 10, 2006)