China activates flood, typhoon emergency response for southern provinces

BEIJING -- China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Thursday activated a Level-IV emergency response for flood control and typhoon prevention in Hainan province, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Guangdong province, all located in South China, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

The headquarters has also dispatched working groups to frontline areas in Hainan to assist and guide local response operations.

According to meteorological forecasts, a tropical depression over the South China Sea will develop into a typhoon on Thursday. It is expected to make landfall on the eastern coast of Hainan Island from Friday afternoon to evening, before making a second landfall along the coastal belt stretching from Guangxi to northern Vietnam in the afternoon or the evening on Saturday.

It is forecast that parts of Hainan Island, Guangdong and Guangxi will experience heavy rain to rainstorms from Friday to Sunday, with some areas forecast to see downpours to extremely heavy rainfall.

China has a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.