Typhoon Muifa approaches China, prompting high alert

Chinese weather authorities issue strongest typhoon warning of the year, with storm due to hit at the weekend Chinese officials have issued the country’s strongest typhoon warning of the year as the powerful typhoon Muifa approaches. China’s Central Meteorological Administration put Muifa about 485 miles south-east of Ningbo in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang on Friday morning with winds of 102mph. It earlier passed Taiwan, causing light rain and moderate winds, but officials on the island warned that sustained falls could cause mudslides. The CMA said the storm was predicted to move north-westerly, gaining intensity as it neared China’s coast and was expected to make landfall between northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu provinces late on Saturday or early on Sunday. The forecast coincided with China’s first “orange alert” of the summer typhoon season. It requires local officials to prepare emergency responses. Administrations in Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu were put on immediate alert, while their counterparts in Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong have been told to stand by, pending updates on the storm’s direction. More than 7,000 fishing vessels have been asked to return to ports in south-eastern provinces and residents of coastal areas in Zhejiang have been told to prepare for possible evacuation. China Taiwan Natural disasters and extreme weather guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.