Typhoon Mekkhala makes landfall in east China's Fujian

Fujian, China: Mekkhala, the sixth typhoon of this year, landed in east China's Fujian Province on Tuesday morning, local meteorological authorities said.

With a maximum wind force of 33 meters per second near its center, Mekkhala landed in coastal areas of the province's Zhangpu County at around 07:30 Tuesday, bringing gales and torrential rains. The Fujian Meteorological Observatory renewed a red alert for the typhoon on 06:56 Tuesday. Meteorological authorities forecast that the typhoon will move northwestward and start to weaken. The city of Shishi, on the southern coast of Fujian, issued several orange alerts for the typhoon in the early hours of Tuesday. 

An orange alert for heavy rain was also issued at 07:00 the same day. All the fishing boats in Shishi were already moored in the bay when Mekkhala made its landfall, thanks to the BeiDou position indicators installed, which allow relevant departments to locate the exact position of the boats in real-time and give prompt notification.

Shishi City has also evacuated nearly 1,000 people and prepared sufficient flood control supplies. Fujian's Xiamen City began experiencing torrential rain and strong winds brought by the typhoon early Tuesday morning. The city's Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has ordered all fishing boats to return to harbor, closed coastal scenic spots and halted ferry services for passengers.

Operations of Xiamen's express bus system, known as Bus Rapid Transit, were also suspended due to the typhoon. China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.