China issues blue alert for typhoon Fengshen (Lead)

Beijing, Oct 19 (IANS) China's national observatory on Sunday issued a blue alert for typhoon Fengshen, the 24th typhoon of the year, as it intensified and is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the country's southern regions.

As of 5 p.m. on Sunday, the typhoon was located over waters off the west coast of Luzon Island, the Philippines, with maximum winds of 72 km per hour near its centre, according to the National Meteorological Centre (NMC), Xinhua News Agency reported.

The typhoon is expected to move northwestward at 25-30 km per hour while gradually intensifying. From Tuesday onward, it will steer southwestward over the central and northern parts of the South China Sea, heading towards Vietnam's central coast before gradually weakening, according to the observatory.

Affected by the typhoon, gales are forecast to affect areas including parts of the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, as well as coastal regions of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong between 8 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. on Monday, the NMC said.

Meanwhile, it said that some areas of Taiwan may experience heavy rainstorms during the same period.

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

On October 10, the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority said that heavy rains and floods triggered by Typhoon Matmo have left 15 people dead and eight others injured across northern and north-central Vietnam.

More than 225,000 houses were submerged and over 1,500 others severely damaged, while about 24,000 hectares of rice and other crops were inundated, it said. Nearly 587,000 livestock and poultry were killed or swept away.

The typhoon also caused serious disruptions to transportation, with 27 road sections blocked due to flooding and landslides, it added.

Power outages affected about 181,000 households, while telecommunications networks in several provinces remained partially disrupted, according to the agency.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed ministries and agencies to actively support local authorities in overcoming the aftermath of Typhoon Matmo, Vietnam News Agency reported.

--IANS

int/akl/vd