China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have ramped up emergency response measures as Typhoon Saudel moves toward the country's east coastline.
Saudel, this year's 18th typhoon, brought heavy rains to parts of the two provinces on Monday.
On Wednesday morning, Fujian's flood control and drought relief authorities raised the typhoon emergency response to Level III and adjusted the flood response to Level IV.
Heavy rainfall began battering the urban area of Ningde, Fujian, on Tuesday morning, with cumulative rainfall exceeding 200 millimeters over a 12-hour period at multiple meteorological stations.
Two sluice gates at the Jinhan Reservoir were opened Tuesday afternoon to discharge floodwater and free up storage capacity.
"The current discharge rate of the reservoir is 140 cubic meters per second. We will continue to make real-time adjustments based on the latest rainfall and water level data to ensure the reservoir's safety ," said Ye Shaoqin, a senior engineer at the Jinhan reservoir operation center.
As of 07:00 on Wednesday, 25 large and medium-sized reservoirs in Ningde had released about 320 million cubic meters of water to free up storage capacity.
In the city of Putian, authorities have intensified coastal patrols and ordered all fishing vessels and crews to return to port.
In Fujian's Shishi City, reservoirs have been pre-discharged to create additional storage space, while some beachside scenic spots have been closed for safety. As part of its typhoon response measures, Zhejiang Province upgraded its typhoon emergency response to Level III at 20:00 on Tuesday.
In Taizhou city of Zhejiang, many coastal scenic areas have been closed.
China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.
Fujian, Zhejiang provinces ramp up response as Typhoon Saudel approaches
China faced twin storms Wednesday, with Typhoon Saudel threatening the east and Narra dissipating after days of heavy rain in the south.
Typhoon Narra, this year's 19th named storm, made landfall as a tropical storm in Changjiang County on the southern island province of Hainan Tuesday evening. The system then crossed the Leizhou Peninsula and made a second landfall in Xuwen County, south China's Guangdong Province, at approximately 03:25 on Wednesday.
By 05:00, it had weakened into a tropical depression before moving into the northwestern South China Sea.
In a rare trajectory, the lingering system turned northward and made a third landfall around 11:00 Wednesday along the coast of Wuchuan, Guangdong Province, packing maximum sustained winds near the center of force 6 on the Beaufort scale. It continued moving northward while weakening rapidly.
Meteorologists described Narra as a "lingering type" typhoon with an unusual path.
Although its wind intensity remained relatively modest, the storm demonstrated exceptional rainfall-producing capacity, having stalled over the Beibu Gulf for several days and delivering persistent torrential rain to Guangxi and surrounding regions.
By this afternoon, the remnants of Narra had further weakened across Guangdong, making it difficult for forecasters to identify its circulation center. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) ceased issuing advisories and removed the storm's designation at 14:00 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Saudel, the 18th storm of the season, poses a growing threat to China's eastern coast. The system entered the East China Sea early Wednesday morning. As of 13:00 Wednesday, Saudel's center was located approximately 640 kilometers east of the Zhejiang-Fujian border over the northwestern Pacific, with maximum sustained winds of 14 on the Beaufort scale, classifying it as a strong typhoon.
The NMC forecasts that Saudel will continue moving west-northwest at 10 to 15 kilometers per hour with little change in intensity.
Beginning Wednesday morning, the storm is expected to turn west-southwest, slow its forward speed, and gradually approach the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.
Landfall is predicted between Wednesday night and Thursday morning somewhere along the coast between Xiangshan, Zhejiang, and Fuqing, Fujian.
Authorities have maintained an orange typhoon warning - the second-highest alert level in China's four-tier system - as preparations continue along the threatened coastline.
China braces for dual typhoon threat as Saudel approaches coast
