China activates emergency response to flooding

BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday issued a Level-IV emergency response to flooding, the lowest among its four-tier system, in five provincial-level regions: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan and Hainan.

Affected by Typhoon Bebinca, Typhoon Pulasan and a tropical depression in the South China Sea, it is projected that some medium-sized and minor rivers in the five regions will see water levels exceed their warning thresholds between Wednesday and Friday, the ministry said.

It stressed the need to strengthen typhoon monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and to prevent disasters triggered by floods in small and medium-sized rivers as well as by mountain torrents in affected areas.

China's National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for Typhoon Pulasan on Wednesday evening, warning that strong winds and heavy rainfall will batter eastern parts of the country from Wednesday night to Thursday night.

The center said the typhoon is expected to make landfall on the coast of Zhejiang between Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening.