Southeast China braces for Typhoon Soudelor

Southeast China is bracing for Typhoon Soudelor, with authorities ordering the evacuation of residents and that ships return to port.

Nearly 5,000 people in China's Fujian Province have been evacuated as the 13th typhoon of the year is expected to hit the province on Saturday.

Soudelor, which is moving northwestward at a speed of more than 20 km per hour, is forecast to land on the coast of Fujian Province on Saturday night after reaching Taiwan between Friday night and Saturday morning, according to the provincial flood control office.

The evacuees, mostly aquatic farm workers, have been transferred to safe locations on shore.

The province ordered all fishing boats to return to harbor by 10 a.m. on Friday, as gales were predicted for nearby waters later in the day.

Authorities in the neighboring province of Guangdong have also ordered fishing boats and and aquatic farm workers to return to shore.

Seaside tourist destinations in eastern Guangdong have been temporarily closed.

The typhoon is also expected to disrupt train services.

About 120 trains, mostly running from Shanghai to major cities in Fujian and Guangdong, will be taken out of service for the weekend by railway authorities.

China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. The National Meteorological Center first issued a yellow alert for the typhoon on Thursday morning and changed it to orange on Thursday night.