East China provinces warn of approaching typhoon

Eastern China provinces are on high alert for approaching typhoon Swan that may bring gales and rainstorms on Sunday night.

The flood control and drought relief headquarters in east China's Fujian Province said the middle and northern part of the province will see rainstorms from Sunday to Monday afternoon due to the influence of Swan.

The Fujian Provincial Meteorological Station issued a yellow alert for the typhoon, the 15th of this year, on Sunday morning.

Swan was in the waters 550 km southeast of Fuzhou City at 6 a.m., with a speed of 40 meters per second at its center. It is moving northeastward at a speed of 20 km per hour and expected to arrive at the East China Sea on Sunday evening, the headquarters said.

As of Sunday morning, 22,016 fishing boats have been recalled to port in Fujian, the provincial marine and fishery department said.

The neighboring Zhejiang Province on Sunday morning also warned of strong wind and heavy rain as a result of the nearing typhoon. The province has seen persistent rain for days. The water level of 37 reservoirs in Zhejiang have surpassed the flood control level so far.

The Zhejiang Provincial Marine and Fishery Bureau said as of 8 a.m., a total of 22,693 ships have been ordered back to port.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued a blue warning for approaching typhoon Swan on Saturday. China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.