BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Friday raised its emergency response for flood control and typhoon prevention in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces from Level III to Level II.
The headquarters also launched a Level IV emergency response for flood control in Hebei and Liaoning provinces, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
The headquarters office has dispatched two working groups to Zhejiang and Fujian to assist and guide local flood control and typhoon response efforts.
As of 6 p.m. Friday, Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, was centered over the sea about 800 kilometers southeast of the border area between Zhejiang and Fujian. The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 meters per second near its center.
Bavi is expected to move northwest at 20 to 25 kilometers per hour, gaining further strength as it approaches the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian. It is forecast to make landfall in the early hours of Sunday along the coast between Xiapu County in Fujian Province and Wenling City in Zhejiang Province, with maximum sustained winds of 38 to 45 meters per second.
Under the influence of the typhoon, torrential to extremely heavy rainfall is forecast to hit southeastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian from Friday to Saturday. Over the next three days, heavy to torrential rain is also expected across parts of north China and northeast China, with some areas in northeastern Hebei and northern Liaoning likely to experience exceptionally heavy downpours. ■
