Eastern China is bracing as typhoon Morakot approaches after slamming into Taiwan Friday night.

Fujian Province's meteorological station said Morakot was likely to land on the coastal Chinese province Saturday evening or night.

Although the typhoon is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before it arrives in China, it was still packing winds of 137 kilometers an hour at 7 a.m. Saturday and churning northwestwards at a speed of 15 to 20 kilometers an hour.

It has already unleashed torrential rain in Fujian where, at five sites, water levels have been recorded at 0.02 to 0.66 meters above warning levels.

In Luoyuan county of Fuzhou city, Fujian's capital, people stayed at home during the weekend and roads were almost empty.

Fewer sellers appeared in the county's vegetable market.


Waves from approaching Typhoon Morakot hit a dike in Cangnan County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Wang Dingchang)
"The fields were flooded," said Li Sailian, a vegetable seller.

"Strong winds broke the ropes tying down the horsebeans, and the crown daisies (chrysanthemum greens) were destroyed," she said.

Li brought all her available stock to the market, fearing the storm would destroy it completely.

In downtown Fuzhou, where several big trees have already been toppled by gale-force winds, people were rushing to supermarkets for necessities before the typhoon arrived.

In Putian City, also in Fujian, all scenic sites and ports have been closed and school classes suspended. A team of 26,222 people has been formed and equipped with flood-control materials, said Huang Dongzhou, director of the city's flood control office.


Waves from approaching Typhoon Morakot hit a dike in Cangnan County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Wang Dingchang)
All of the city's 7,168 fishing ships had returned to harbor, Huang said.

In adjacent Zhejiang Province, rainfall exceeded 50 millimeters on 6.8 percent of the province's land on Friday night. The highest reading was 110 millimeters in Cangnan county bordering Fujian.

Nearly 300,000 residents and tourists in danger areas were evacuated, and the province has told nearly 30,000 ships to return to harbor.

More than 50,000 soldiers were prepared for emergencies in Zhejiang, said the local government.

Shanghai was put on high alert and the World Expo venue is being protected around the clock.


Waves from approaching Typhoon Morakot hit a dike in Cangnan County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Wang Dingchang)
East China's Shandong province has also warned local governments to take measures beforehand to reduce losses from extreme weather.

Morakot, which means "emerald" in Thai, is the eighth storm to hit China this year. It landed in Hualien of Taiwan at 11:45 p.m. Friday, and left at least six people dead or missing. A further 12 were injured. Morakot also overturned cars and cut power supplies.

Source: Xinhua