Over 200,000 evacuated as Typhoon Talim approaches

FUZHOU/HANGZHOU - More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces as of Wednesday as Talim, the region's 18th typhoon this year, moves rapidly towards China's southeast coast.

The provincial meteorological department of Fujian forecast that Talim would intensify into a super typhoon with a speed of 180 to 200 km per hour within the next two days.

China's national weather observatory Wednesday forecast that Talim would either move northwest and make landfall in Zhejiang from Thursday night to Friday morning, or move north into waters near Zhejiang on Friday and then turn northeast.

More than 120,000 people have been moved to safe places, 20,000 fishing vessels taken shelter in Fujian, and nearly 2,000 scenic spots and construction sites shut down. In Zhejiang, nearly 9,000 people have been relocated and more than 4,700 fishing vessels harbored.

In the meantime, Typhoon Doksuri, the 19th in the region this year, has been forecast to either pass the coast of south China's Hainan Island or land in coastal areas of the province on Thursday night or Friday morning.