South China on alert as typhoon Ragasa approaches

Guangzhou, Sep 24 (IANS) Classes, production, public transportation and business operations were suspended on Wednesday in parts of south China’s Guangdong Province as typhoon Ragasa approached.

According to the flood, drought and typhoon control headquarters in Zhanjiang City, schools halted classes at around 3 p.m. Tuesday as a precaution. Starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, work, production, public transport and business operations across Zhanjiang will also be suspended.

Noting that departments handling water, power, gas, communications, medical care and emergency response will remain operational, local authorities urged all other activities that could pose safety risks or endanger personnel to be suspended due to the typhoon.

Typhoon Ragasa, the 18th typhoon of the year, entered the South China Sea late Monday and was located about 170 km southeast of Yangjiang City at 10 a.m. Wednesday. It is forecast to move northwest at 20 km per hour and make landfall on Wednesday evening along the coastal areas between Yangjiang and Zhanjiang.

China’s National Meteorological Centre maintained an orange alert, the second highest in China’s four-tier color-coded weather warning system, on Wednesday as the typhoon is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, South China’s Guangdong Province had raised its wind emergency response to the highest level as Typhoon Ragasa to make landfall along the central or western coastal areas of the province as a strong or super strong typhoon within 24 hours.

The typhoon was expected to bring rainstorms and strong winds, with some areas facing extreme precipitation, while regions directly in the path of its centre could experience gusts of up to 60 metres per second.

The provincial flood, drought and wind control headquarters had urged all localities and departments to act with the highest standards, strictest requirements and most concrete measures, and had ordered major affected areas to suspend classes, work, production, public transportation and business operations. Cities including Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Jiangmen had implemented these suspensions.

Some highway sections and bridges in Zhuhai had been closed, and the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge had suspended outbound passenger clearance, with the main bridge closed simultaneously.

In the neighbouring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, all passenger and ferry ships in the coastal waters of Guangxi had been suspended.

China has a four-tier emergency response system, with ‘Level I’ being the most severe response.

–IANS

int/jk/rs