BEIJING, 12 Sept 2017:
China’s National Meteorological Centre today warned Typhoon Talim could intensify and turn into a super typhoon as it churns towards Taiwan and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on the Chinese mainland.
The meteorological agency issued a blue alert, the lowest in a four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather.
This morning, the eye of Talim was 1,040km southeast of Taiwan’s Yilan county, packing winds of up to 33 metres a second.
Talim is expected to hit north and northeast parts of Taiwan the hardest tomorrow and into Thursday with heavy rains and strong gusts.
The storm will then move northwest at a speed of 25-30kph towards the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, making landfall late on Thursday or early Friday, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.
Till tomorrow, Talim will bring gales to the southern East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and waters east of Taiwan, as well as parts of the South China Sea.
The Fujian government initiated a Grade IV emergency response last night, the lowest of a four-grade emergency response system.
Relevant government agencies were told to monitor Typhoon Talim and take emergency measures in a timely manner, according to a statement on the official website of Fujian province.
State-owned China News Service reported today Zhejiang province had also initiated a Grade IV response.
If anything unusual was detected, government agencies should issue warnings and organise evacuations, the news report said.
The National Meteorological Centre also warned of a tropical depression 205km east of Manila in the Philippines, saying it could gather strength and become a typhoon in the next 12 hours.
Late last month, Typhoon Hato pummelled Macau with winds of more than 200kph and wreaked havoc in the nearby financial hub of Hong Kong.
– Reuters