China renews orange alert for Typhoon Doksuri

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Wednesday renewed an orange alert for Typhoon Doksuri, as the fifth typhoon of this year is expected to bring gales and heavy rain to the southern and eastern parts of the country.

The typhoon, observed over the ocean about 350 km south of Taiwan at 5 am Wednesday, is expected to move northwest at a speed of 10 to 15 km per hour, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement.

It will enter the northeastern part of the South China Sea between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and then make landfall in coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong on Friday morning, the center said.

Some coastal areas around the Bashi Channel, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, as well as coastal regions of Taiwan and Fujian, will experience gales, while parts of Taiwan will experience heavy downpours of 250 to 350 mm from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, according to the center.

The meteorological center 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.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system for typhoons, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.