China upgrades emergency response to Typhoon Gaemi

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Transport on Thursday upgraded the emergency response to Typhoon Gaemi to Level II, the second-highest response level.

The ministry said it will closely monitor the typhoon, strengthen warnings and coordination with other departments, and guide local transport authorities in typhoon prevention and response work.

Typhoon Gaemi, the third typhoon of the year as counted by China's meteorological authorities, was located 60 kilometers southeast of the waters off the coast of Fuqing City in east China's Fujian Province at 5 p.m. Thursday, according to a red alert that has been renewed by the National Meteorological Center.

The typhoon is forecast to travel northwest at speeds of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour and make landfall on the coast of Fujian Province on Thursday evening, the center said.

After crossing Fujian, Typhoon Gaemi is expected to enter Jiangxi Province and subsequently move northward with decreasing intensity, the center also forecast.

As a result of the typhoon, rainstorms will lash parts of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan and Taiwan from 8 p.m. Thursday to 8 p.m. Friday.

The center has advised local authorities to prepare by ordering ships to return to port, suspending outdoor activities, and remaining on high alert for possible floods or geological disasters.

According to a red alert issued by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration on Thursday evening, mountain torrents are expected to occur in southern parts of Zhejiang and northeastern parts of Fujian during the same period.

The two bodies have also issued an orange alert for mountain torrents in other parts of Zhejiang and Fujian.

Localities have been advised to strengthen their real-time monitoring and flood warning procedures, prepare for possible evacuation, and implement other risk-mitigation measures.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Water Resources launched a Level-IV emergency response to flooding in the Liaoning and Jilin provinces, which are expected to be affected by the typhoon. On Wednesday, the same response level was activated in the provincial-level regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. ■