BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Coastal areas of eastern China were bracing for strong winds and torrential rain as Typhoon Dolphin approached, prompting authorities to recall fishing boats, suspend ferry services and prepare for evacuations.
China's meteorological authority on Saturday upgraded its emergency response for Dolphin to Level III and raised the typhoon warning from yellow to orange.
The typhoon was located about 440 kilometers southeast of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, at 5 p.m. Saturday, packing winds of up to 45 meters per second near its center, according to the National Meteorological Center.
It was moving northwestward at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour and is expected to make landfall along the coast between Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province and Fuding in Fujian Province from Sunday night to Monday morning.
Zhejiang raised its typhoon emergency response to Level I, the highest level, on Saturday night, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
The headquarters urged authorities to closely monitor the typhoon and implement all planned typhoon prevention measures. Where necessary, authorities may declare an emergency flood control period and take measures such as suspending outdoor group activities, halting work, classes, business operations and transport services, and closing roads.
Although Dolphin is yet to make landfall, it has already brought heavy rains and strong winds to parts of Zhejiang, including Ningbo, Taizhou, Wenzhou and Lishui, said Jia Yan, chief forecaster at the Zhejiang Meteorological Observatory.
The Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration on Saturday evening jointly issued a red alert for flash floods in 23 contiguous counties, cities and districts in Zhejiang. The Ministry of Water Resources also upgraded the province's flooding emergency response from Level IV to Level III.
More than 4,000 local monitors have been deployed to inspect over 7,500 areas considered at risk of landslides and other geological disasters.
The province had suspended services on all 162 of its passenger ferry routes, halted work at all 193 offshore projects, and called 474 construction vessels to port by Friday morning.
In Fujian Province, 98,900 people had been relocated to safety from risky areas as of 6 p.m. Saturday. Authorities had suspended 55 passenger ferry routes and halted work at 115 offshore construction sites. All 1,210 registered fishing boats in the coastal city of Fuding had returned to port.
Shanghai issued a blue typhoon alert Friday, with forecasters warning that the storm could bring strong winds and heavy rain to the city for as long as four days. Some train services in the Yangtze River Delta will be suspended from Sunday.
Authorities in Shanghai also have evacuated 30,300 residents from risky areas and more people are expected to be relocated on Sunday. As of Saturday afternoon, over 20 scenic sites in Shanghai have been temporarily closed.
Compared with Typhoon Bavi, which made landfall in the country in July, Typhoon Dolphin may bring stronger winds and heavier rainfall, said Xu Yinglong, chief forecaster at the National Meteorological Center.
China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system for typhoons, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. It also has a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I being the highest. ■
