Typhoon alert remains high in east China

HANGZHOU - China's east coast remains on alert Friday as a pair of typhoons threaten to wreak havoc.

Typhoon Bolaven, the 15th typhoon of the year, was gaining force Friday and was forecast to reach the East China Sea on Sunday, the weather bureau of Zhejiang Province said in a press release Friday night.

It said the Zhoushan Islands were on high alert of the typhoon.

Bolaven was located at 21.7 north latitude and 133.2 east longitude at 2 pm, packing winds of 41.4 meters per second and moving northwest at 15 km per hour, it said.

Local authorities in Zhoushan have warned citizens to be on guard against the typhoon and banned fishing boats from going out to the sea.

Meanwhile, typhoon Tembin, whose center was in seawater off Taiwan Friday afternoon, threatened to soak the eastern Fujian Province over the weekend, the local meteorological station said.

It said gales were already sweeping at 24.5 meters per second in Fujian's coastal areas Friday, and could intensify in the coming two days.

A direct ferry service between Fujian's Pingtan to Taiwan will be suspended for three days from Saturday to Monday.

Tembin struck southern Taiwan Friday, toppling trees, overturning vehicles and dumping rains that swelled rivers and flooded homes and farmlands.

China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center also warned the public of the dual typhoons Friday, raising the alert level to yellow.

Earlier this month, dual-typhoons "Damrey" and "Saola" left eight people dead and forced the evacuation of about 1.3 million residents in the coastal regions as of August 5.