Guangdong braces for assault of typhoon Saola

Guangdong province is bracing for Typhoon Saola, which is expected to slam into its eastern coast later this week.

Top priority has been given to preventing injuries and minimizing economic losses, authorities from the province said on Tuesday.

Saola, the ninth typhoon to hit the Chinese coast this year, is expected to bring high winds and torrential rainfall that could bring destruction and widespread economic losses to Guangdong's eastern coast, the province's flood control, drought relief and anti-typhoon headquarters said.

Affected by Saola, major cities, including Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and cities along the coast, saw heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday that wrought havoc in some areas, the headquarters said.

Thunderstorms and rains accompanying Saola, are expected to hit some cities and counties in eastern Guangdong on Wednesday and Thursday.

To prevent injuries, all fishing boats operating in the eastern waters of the Pearl River estuary have been ordered to return to shelter. All workers involved in fishing, offshore wind power platform construction and marine ranching were told to go ashore on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, all coastal scenic spots and swimming beaches have been asked to close temporarily to ensure the safety of tourists and swimmers, the headquarters said.

Cities and government departments have been ordered to introduce concrete measures to prevent and handle possible geological hazards caused by Saola, including the collapse of dikes along coastal, river and reservoir areas; flooding; mountain torrents; mud flows and landslides, in the days to come.

According to local meteorologists, the strong typhoon began to move in a northwesterly direction from Luzon Island in the Philippines on Tuesday and is expected to batter the southern coast of Taiwan before it approaches Guangdong and Fujian provinces on Wednesday night.