BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Saturday intensified emergency response measures with Typhoon Bavi set to slam into the country's eastern coast, resulting in meteorological, water resources, transport and emergency management authorities issuing alerts and reinforcing flood-control efforts ahead of the expected landfall.

Photo: IC

The country's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level-IV emergency response for flood and typhoon control in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi, all in east China, as well as southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, is expected to make landfall along the coast between Sanmen and Cangnan in east China's Zhejiang Province in the early hours of Sunday. After landfall, it is forecast to move northwestward and then shift toward a more northerly direction.

Bavi was located about 460 km southeast of the border between Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, both in east China, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, packing maximum winds of 42 meters per second near its center, the ministry said.

Earlier on Saturday, China's National Meteorological Center issued a red alert for rainstorms, the highest level in its four-tier system, and an orange alert for the typhoon.

Within 24 hours until 2 p.m. on Sunday, torrential rains are expected to drench large parts of the country, including Zhejiang, northern Fujian, northeastern Jiangxi and southern Anhui, and some parts of Beijing and Hebei, according to the national observatory's forecast.

Maximum accumulated rainfall could reach 250 to 500 mm in parts of eastern and southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian, and 250 to 800 mm in parts of central and northern Taiwan Island, the national observatory said.

As part of broader efforts to strengthen flood and typhoon preparedness, China's Ministry of Water Resources raised its emergency response for flood prevention in Zhejiang and Fujian from Level-IV to Level-III, and activated a Level-IV emergency response in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The Ministry of Transport also activated a Level-I emergency response for heavy rainfall while maintaining its Level-II emergency response for the typhoon.