Multiple Chinese coastal cities suspend public transportation at sea and port operation due to impact of Typhoon Koinu

Multiple coastal cities in China's eastern and southern regions will suspend public transportation at sea and operations at the ports as Typhoon Koinu is approaching and is expected to make a second landfall in South China.

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) continued to issue a yellow alert on Saturday evening, the third highest in a four-colored warning system, as Typhoon Koinu, the 14th typhoon of this year, is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rains to the coastal regions including East China's Fujian Province, South China's Guangdong and Hainan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as it heads westward, expected to make a second landfall in the South China region.

After it made landfall on the island of Taiwan on October 5, Typhoon Koinu weakened and then strengthened again. It remained as a strong typhoon on Saturday and will continue to travel westward.

It was located around 180 kilometers south of Shanwei city in Guangdong at 5 pm, packing winds of up to 162 kilometers per hour near its center, according to the NMC. Affected by the typhoon, parts of Fujian and Guangdong provinces will be lashed by heavy rain or rainstorms on Saturday and Sunday, while some coastal regions in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces will experience strong gales.

The center advised local authorities to prepare for the typhoon by ordering ships to return to ports, suspending outdoor activities, and remaining on high alert for possible floods and geological disasters.

In response, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration activated a level-3 response against the typhoon at 2 pm on Saturday to remind over 1,820 boats in its jurisdiction to take measures against the typhoon.

The passenger transportation line across Qiongzhou Strait is expected to suspend operation on Monday and other tourism lines will suspend operation in time according to the influence of the typhoon.

The Hainan Maritime Safety Administration has allocated and deployed five professional rescue boats and two rescue helicopters to cope with emergencies at sea.

Besides, the three ports in Haikou city in Hainan, including Xinhai Port, Xiuying Port and the Railway South Port which connect Hainan with the rest of the country are expected to suspend operation on Monday.

The Zhanjiang maritime authority launched a level-4 emergency response on Saturday noon and ordered to evacuate all personnel from the offshore wind power construction platform and unpowered ships in Xuwen county in Zhanjiang by Sunday noon.

Besides, all the ships in Zhanjiang were ordered to take shelter and all the unrelated personnel on the ships were ordered to evacuate by 6 pm on Sunday.

On Saturday noon, the maritime safety administration of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge started to implement traffic control under the bridge and prohibited all ships to pass to cope with the typhoon.

Marine and Water Bureau of Macao Special Administrative Region announced on Saturday evening to suspend the transportation line between Taipa in Macao and Shekou in Shenzhen, Guangdong, since Sunday.

Since Saturday, parts of passenger transportation lines between Taipa and Sheung Wan in Hong Kong have canceled and the passenger transportation lines connecting Macao and Fuyong in Shenzhen have suspended.