Yellow hazard level declared in South and East China

Chinese authorities announced on Thursday a yellow level of danger over the possible flooding in eastern Fujian and southern Guangdong due to the ninth typhoon this season, dubbed "Lupit" (means cruelty in Filipino), Report informs, citing Xinhua.

In the first half of the day, a tropical storm, with the wind speed reaching 23 m/s in the epicenter, struck the coast of Guangdong province near the city of Shantou. Towards evening, "Lupit" reached the city of Zhangzhou in Fujian province with a wind speed of about 18 m/s in its central part. Meteorologists warn that the floods may cover several regions of these provinces in the next 24 hours. The authorities also do not exclude floods in other regions of the country due to heavy rainfall, which brought in a new tropical cyclone.

Sixty thousand people were evacuated from potentially dangerous coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Ferry services have been disrupted in the region, thousands of construction sites and many tourist sites have been closed. Thousands of fishing boats took refuge in ports. A tropical storm also disrupted rail links in the region. In the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian on Thursday, high-speed trains were suspended in a number of directions.

China has a four-tiered disaster warning system that includes blue, yellow, orange, and red.