Southern China is bracing for heavy rains and strong winds from a new tropical storm heading its way, the local weather bureau reported. It would be the latest in a series of severe weather that has killed nearly 3,000 people so far this year.
Tropical Storm Mindulle, which means “dandelion” in Korean, was expected either to make landfall or to sweep by the island province between midnight and this morning, packing high winds and tor-rential rain, the local weather bureau said, before heading into neighboring Guangdong Province and possibly affecting Vietnam.
The provincial maritime bureau issued a sailing ban at 6:30 am Monday on at least one third of passenger and cargo ships that were unable to withstand winds up to 60 km per hour.
More than 20,000 fishing boats have been called back, according to a statement issued by the bureau at 10 am Monday.
Mindulle will also bring torrential rains and gales of up to 90 km per hour to the coastal areas of Guangdong Province, said Lin Liangxun, chief weatherman with the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Station.
Chan Siu-wai, of the Hong Kong Observatory, said the storm wouldn’t likely be big.
“This year there were some storms that attained even higher intensity that tracked even closer to Hainan Island. It’s not the strongest one this year,” he said.
Heavy rain has also wreaked havoc in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, as a major river bordering China and North Korea swelled, forcing the evacuation of over 253,500 residents.