Fujian ready for Typhoon Trami

Fujian province closed coastal tourist attractions and deployed emergency crews on Wednesday in preparation for Typhoon Trami, the 12th tropical storm to hit the Chinese coast area this year.

Trami was bumped up from a severe tropical storm to a typhoon on Tuesday night, with winds up to 137 kilometers per hour, according to the Fujian Meteorological Center.

Moving northwest at a speed of 25 km/h and gaining strength, Trami was expected to make landfall in Jinjiang or Xiapu county in Ningde, on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Zhang Ling, chief typhoon forecaster at the China Meteorological Administration, said Trami would bring strong winds and extremely heavy rainfall as it mixes with monsoon rains.

Trami's combination of tropical storm and monsoon rains will lead to exceptionally heavy downpours that could last for five days, Zhang said.

The Fujian Meteorological Center warned of street flooding in urban areas and mudslides in mountainous regions.

Seaside resorts in Lianjiang county, Fuzhou, have been closed since Tuesday.

Tour services to Fujian's coastal attractions, such as Meizhou Island in Putian and Baishuiyang in Ningde, were canceled on Wednesday for safety reasons, said a manager at the Kangxiang Tourism Agency in Fuzhou.

Authorities asked that work on outdoor projects along the coast be suspended.

Fujian's Department of Ocean and Fisheries ordered fishing vessels to anchor in harbors before 2 pm on Wednesday.

Intercity high-speed train service between Fuzhou and Xiamen, and between Longyan and Xiamen, has been temporarily halted.

Operation of the passenger liner Haixia, which links Fujian's Pingtan county and Taichung, Taiwan, will be suspended on Thursday.

As many locations in northern Fujian are expected to be inundated with more than 200 mm of rain, Chen Rongkai, the province's vice-governor and director of the Fujian Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said safety patrols along dams and embankments have been reinforced to control flooding.

According to Chen, more than 6,000 soldiers have been placed on standby in coastal towns and villages for emergency operations.

Chen also suggested local authorities at all levels should send typhoon information via VHF radio and short-message services to warn boats and residents living in coastal cities.

Trami is also forecast to bring violent storms and heavy downpours in Guangdong province.

The Guangdong provincial observatory has alerted residents that raging storms were expected to strike the province's eastern coast again starting on Thursday.