China's national observatory on Friday renewed a red alert for Typhoon Doksuri, the most severe warning in its four-tier warning system, as the fifth typhoon of this year is expected to bring gales and heavy rain to the eastern and southern parts of the country.

The typhoon landed in coastal areas of Jinjiang City in east China's Fujian Province at around 9:55 a.m. Friday, bringing gales of up to 50 meters per second near its center.

Doksuri is expected to move northwestward, gradually weakening in intensity.

Some coastal areas around the Bashi Channel, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Straits, as well as coastal regions of Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, among others, will experience gales from Friday morning to 8 a.m. Saturday, according to the meteorological center.

During this period, parts of the provincial-regions of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi and Taiwan will experience heavy rain and some areas in Zhejiang and Fujian will see heavy downpours of 250 to 280 mm, the center said.

The meteorological center has issued an advisory suspending both indoor and outdoor gatherings, as well as dangerous outdoor operations, and recommended the timely transfer of people living in vulnerable housing.

It also called for emergency typhoon preparations and precautions against possible geological disasters.

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

The Ministry of Transport has activated a level-one typhoon response, the highest of its kind.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, there had been no reports of highway water damage caused by the typhoon or large-scale traffic congestion, said the ministry.

All expressways in Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian have been temporarily closed, the ministry said.

Before landing in China, Doksuri brought heavy rains, floods and landslides to the Philippines, killing 13 people and displacing over 29,000 residents, according to its national disaster agency on Friday.

Scientists have warned that global warming will only make storms wetter, windier and more violent.

(Cover image via VCG, with input from Reuters)

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