Over 628,000 people in Fujian Province affected by Typhoon Gaemi

As of 6 a.m. on July 26, about 628,600 people in east China's Fujian Province had been affected by Typhoon Gaemi, the third typhoon of this year, according to data from the province's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Fujian upgraded the emergency response level for natural disaster relief to Level III, the third highest in a four-tier response system, at 10 p.m. on Thursday after Gaemi made landfall.

Gaemi was in Sanming City of Fujian at 8 a.m. on Friday, and the severe tropical storm is projected to move northwest at a speed of about 20 kilometers per hour, and is expected to reach Jiangxi Province Friday evening. It will gradually weaken as it continues northward.

China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert, the second-highest alert level, for the typhoon on Friday morning. Affected by Gaemi, southern Taiwan, Fujian, southern Zhejiang, eastern Guangdong, central and eastern Jiangxi and other places will have heavy rain until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

On Thursday, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management organized a meeting on flood and typhoon control and relief work with departments of meteorology, water resources, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development. Expert groups have been dispatched to the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, Hebei, Sichuan and Anhui to assist and guide flood control and disaster relief efforts.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has prepared over 4,500 engineering rescue personnel, more than 1,600 sets of equipment and eight helicopters for aviation rescue in key areas such as Zhejiang and Fujian.

The Ministry of Water Resources raised the emergency response for flood control in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces to Level III at 6 p.m. on Thursday. 

The Ministry of Transport raised the response for typhoon to Level II at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. All passenger trains in Fujian were suspended on Thursday.