BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Friday renewed a yellow alert for Typhoon Maysak, which is expected to bring strong winds and rainstorms to southern China.
At 10 a.m. on Friday, the 10th typhoon this year was observed some 145 km south of Lingshui, south China's island province of Hainan, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.
Maysak is expected to move northwestward at a speed of 10-15 km per hour, with strengthening intensity, according to the NMC. It is forecast to make landfall along the coastal areas from Lingshui to Ledong in Hainan on Friday afternoon.
After crossing Hainan Island, it will enter the Beibu Gulf and make a second landfall near the coastal border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and northern Vietnam on Saturday evening. The storm's intensity will gradually weaken thereafter.
From 2 p.m. on Friday to 2 p.m. on Saturday, strong winds are expected in most parts of the South China Sea, the Qiongzhou Strait, the Beibu Gulf, the Zhongsha Islands, the Xisha Islands, along the central and western coasts of Guangdong Province in south China, and along the coastal areas of Hainan Island and Guangxi.
Meanwhile, heavy to torrential rainfall is expected in parts of central and western Guangdong, southern Guangxi, and Hainan Island.
Hainan has imposed comprehensive transport suspensions across the island. All inter-island train services are suspended on Friday and Saturday. Roll-on/roll-off ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait were suspended at 2 a.m. on Friday, with this suspension expected to last one to two days, pending real-time weather conditions.
Provincial meteorological authorities have issued safety reminders urging offshore platforms and vessels to take shelter immediately, while calling on local governments to tighten safety management of fishing boats and coastal mountain tourism sites.
China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue. ■
