China issues orange alert against Typhoon Krosa

Beijing – China on Saturday upgraded its warning of high waves to orange level, the second-highest warning in its four-tier colour-coded weather system, as Typhoon Krosa strengthened to a strong typhoon.

Krosa, the 29th typhoon of the year and approaching China’s coast, will bring waves as high as nine metres in the northern part of the South China Sea from today noon till tomorrow noon, National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre said.

The typhoon is expected to whip up peaks of up to 3.5 metres in the Taiwan Strait and along the coast of Guangdong Province, while waves up to three metres will be seen in the eastern coastal areas of Hainan, according to the centre.

The centre also warned of storm tides, with water levels expected to increase by as much as 80 centimetres in coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian provinces from this morning to tomorrow morning.

The centre asked ships to be cautious. It also advised coastal authorities to take precautionary measures, carry out patrols and make sure dikes and fishery facilities are secure.

In addition, the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued a yellow alert for Krosa today.

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

As of now, Krosa’s centre was at the northern part of the South China Sea and about 605 kilometres east of the city of Wanning in southern China’s Hainan Province.

Local governments should take precautions against the typhoon while ships in areas on the route of Krosa should come back to ports, the NMC said.