Typhoon Doksuri makes landfall in China

Beijing, July 28 (IANS) Doksuri, the fifth typhoon of this year, made landfall in east China's Fujian province on Friday, bringing with it powerful winds and heavy rain.

The typhoon landed in coastal areas of Jinjiang city at around 9:55 a.m., bringing gales of up to 50 meters per second near its centre, Xinhua news agency quoted the Fujian provincial meteorological bureau as saying.

Doksuri is expected to move northwestward, gradually weakening in intensity. 

In the wake of the typhoon's arrival, China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC) on Friday renewed a red alert, the most severe in its four-tier warning system.

Some coastal areas around the Bashi Channel, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, as well as coastal regions of Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, among others, will experience gales from Friday morning to 8 a.m. Saturday, according to the Centre.

During this period, parts of the provincial-regions of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi and Taiwan will experience heavy rain and some areas in Zhejiang and Fujian will see heavy downpours of 250 to 280 mm, the center said.

The NMC has issued an advisory suspending both indoor and outdoor gatherings, as well as dangerous outdoor operations, and recommended the timely transfer of people living in vulnerable housing.

It has also called for emergency typhoon preparations and precautions against possible geological disasters.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport has activated a level-one typhoon response, the highest of its kind.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, there had been no reports of highway water damage caused by the typhoon or large-scale traffic congestion, said the Ministry.

All expressways in Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian Province have been temporarily closed, it added.