CHINA / SOCIETY
China renews blue alert for Typhoon Bavi
Published: Aug 23, 2020 11:38 AM

Fishermen walk against strong winds brought by Typhoon Mekkhala in Qianting Town of Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Aug. 11, 2020. Typhoon Mekkhala, the sixth this year, made landfall at around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday in Zhangpu County, east China's Fujian Province, bringing gales of up to 33 meters per second near its eye, according to local meteorological authorities. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)


 
China's national observatory on Sunday renewed a blue alert for Typhoon Bavi, which is expected to bring gales to south and southeast China.

The typhoon, the eighth of this year, strengthened from a tropical depression Saturday morning and was observed at waters 390 km west of the city of Naha in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture at 5 a.m. Sunday, with a maximum wind force of 100.8 km/h at the center, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

The NMC expects the typhoon to move northeastward at a speed of 10 km to 15 km per hour as it strengthens, before heading towards northeast China's Liaodong Peninsula from Wednesday.

From Sunday morning to Monday morning, gales are expected to hit some coastal areas of provinces and regions including Taiwan, Fujian and Zhejiang, according to the NMC.

The NMC advises people and vessels in disaster-prone areas to take shelter from winds.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.