East china city braces for typhoon Haikui's landfall

Authorities in east China's Taizhou City ordered all businesses and schools closed on Tuesday, as approaching Typhoon Haikui is forecast to make a landfall via the coastal region is in the evening.

Chen Tiexiong, secretary of the municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, told the public via the media, that Haikui will be the first typhoon to make a landfall in the city since 2006.

"The typhoon will bring strong winds and heavy downpours lasting for 48 hours," he warned.

The Zhejiang provincial observatory reported that the typhoon packing maximum sustained winds of 144 km per hour on the East China Sea was located at 27.5 degrees north latitude and 124.4 east longitude, or 350 km southeast of Taizhou City at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The observatory said Haikui is moving at 10 km per hour towards the city. It is scheduled to make a landfall Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Haikui will be the third typhoon to wallop China's eastern coasts in a week after two powerful storms -- Saola and Damrey -- smashed the regions over the weekend.

The Zhejiang provincial flood control headquarters said more than 130,000 people have been evacuated since Sunday in the province and more than 30,000 ships are parking at ports in the province's precaution measures for Haikui's landfall.