Emergency management authorities in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces ordered ships and fishermen in from the sea yesterday as Typhoon Kaemi approached the Chinese mainland.
 
About 7,000 people working on coastal fishing rafts returned to shore yesterday and another 30,000 were expected to find safe harbor today.

Late yesterday, Kaemi was located 260 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's Hualien, according to the Fujian provincial meteorological station. The fifth typhoon to hit China this year, Kaemi was packing winds of 111 kilometers an hour.

The eye of the storm was moving northwest at about 15 kilometers an hour and was expected to hit the east coast of Taiwan late last night or early today.

The storm is forecast to slam into Fujian Province tonight or tomorrow morning, bringing strong wind and rainstorms.

Three thousand armed police have been stationed in the southeast China province, ready to begin rescue and relief operations.

About 130 vans and 80 speedboats were provided for the rescue teams along with 3,500 life vests and 2,000 buoys.

Rescue teams have undergone extensive training, focusing on how to carry out emergency procedures in the dark.

The police are equipped with signal generators and waterproof lights to ensure the safety of night operations.

Authorities said they have studied the possible routes Kaemi might take and removed obstacles that could pose risks.

To keep reservoirs safe in Taizhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, about 85 million cubic meters of water was released from Friday to yesterday.

Driven by Kaemi, rainstorms and strong winds will hit Wenzhou, Taizhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang tonight or tomorrow morning, according to the Zhejiang meteorological station.

The province has ordered fishing boats to return to harbor as soon as possible.

Bilis, the last typhoon to strike the mainland, caused heavy rain and flooding that left 612 people dead and 208 missing across China, the office of the National Natural Disaster Reduction Committee reported yesterday.

(China Daily July 25, 2006)