E China city braces for typhoon Haikui

HANGZHOU - Typhoon Haikui strengthened into a severe typhoon Tuesday as it approached the coast of East China's Zhejiang province, the provincial observatory said Tuesday.

The storm's center was located 270 km southeast of Xiangshan county as of 2 pm Tuesday, and it was moving northwest at a speed of 10 km per hour, the observatory said.

Haikui has brought downpours to Zhejiang, causing some reservoirs to see excessive water levels.

According to the latest forecast, Haikui is expected to make landfall on late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning near the Sanmenwan Gulf of Zhejiang.

At 3:20 pm Tuesday, the observatory issued a red alert against the typhoon, which is the most severe alert in the country's four-tier color-coded weather warning system, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Haikui has formed a huge and clear eye. As its wind ring expands, it will bring a wide-coverage affect to coastal regions of Zhejiang and Shanghai, said Lou Maoyuan, deputy director with the observatory.

Railway authorities have canceled all passenger trains departing from, and arriving at, the cities of Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou and other coastal regions of Zhejiang.

As of 3:54 pm Tuesday, over 70 flights departing from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport had been canceled.

The state flood control and drought relief headquarters lifted the emergency response to the typhoon and flooding to Level II, the second-highest level in the country's four-tier emergency response system.

Haikui is expected to remain in Zhejiang's coastal areas and the nearby city of Shanghai after making landfall, the observatory said.

Authorities in the city of Taizhou ordered all businesses and schools to close Tuesday, as the approaching typhoon is expected to make landfall in the evening.

Chen Tiexiong, secretary of the Taizhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said Haikui will be the first typhoon to hit the city since 2006.

"The typhoon will bring strong winds and heavy downpours lasting for 48 hours," he warned.

Haikui will be the third typhoon to wallop China's eastern coast in a week, after storms Saola and Damrey hit the region over the weekend.

The provincial flood control headquarters said more than 130,000 people have been relocated since Sunday in preparation for the typhoon, adding that more than 30,000 ships have been ordered back to port.