The southern Chinese city of Sanya has suspended all flights and neighbouring Haikou closed its port as Hainan Island braced for the arrival of Typhoon Bualoi on Sunday.
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Bualoi, coming close on the heels of Super Typhoon Ragasa, is expected to skim the island and come ashore in Vietnam later on Sunday.
According to the China Meteorological Administration, the typhoon’s centre as of 10am local time Sunday was about 160 kilometres (99 miles) from Sanya and most of Hainan Island is within the typhoon’s seventh-level wind zone between 13.9 and 17.1 metres per second (31 and 38mph).
The administration issued a yellow typhoon and heavy rain warning, the third highest level in its four-tier alert system. It said Bualoi was anticipated to further strengthen.
Coastal areas of southern China were bracing for the storm’s most intense phase on Sunday, with heavy rainfall and strong winds expected.
Aside from Hainan Island, nearby southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and southwestern Guangdong province were forecast to experience heavy to torrential rain.
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