China is expected to face the strongest typhoon this year as Typhoon Megi intensified into a super typhoon Sunday, China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.
 
Typhoon Megi, which means "catfish" in Korean, was heading for Northern Luzon at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour after it turned into a super typhoon early Sunday. It is expected to enter the South China Sea today, said the NMC.
 
With winds near the center reaching more than 56 meters per second, the super typhoon could cause wild winds and huge waves in the South China Sea in the next three days, it said.
 
The NMC issued an orange alert, the second-highest-level alert, for strong winds at 10 am, warning vessels to take shelter in ports and urging local authorities to prepare for emergencies in the upcoming strong winds and rainstorms.
Currently, the southern island province Hainan is suffering from the second round of rainstorms, which started to pour on Friday.
The local meteorological department has issued a red alert of heavy rain for four cities and counties and an orange alert for eight cities and counties in Hainan Saturday.
Ding'an county, one of the most hit areas, received a downpour of 140 millimeters from midnight to 5 pm Sunday, figures from the department showed.
The heavy rainfall in Haikou, capital city of the province, caused severe waterlogging in some areas Sunday.
Affected by heavy rainfall, the water level in many courses of the Wanquan River and Nandu River has risen above the alert line.
About 100,000 residents living at the lower reaches were being relocated to a safe place, local government said Sunday.
The heavy rainfall has forced the sixth stage of the Tour of Hainan, an annual continental road event, to be canceled on Saturday and the seventh stage to be shortened Sunday.
The first round of downpours, starting on September 30 and rated as the heaviest torrential rains in Hainan since 1961, required 210,000 people to be evacuated after about 1,160 villages were submerged by floodwaters and caused 1.13 billion yuan ($170 million) in economic losses.

 

 
SOURCE: Global Times
 
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