China ups typhoon emergency response for southern province

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Friday raised its typhoon emergency response level for the country's southern province of Guangdong, where Typhoon Saola is expected to make landfall.

The emergency response was lifted from Level III to Level II, the second-highest level in the country's four-tier typhoon emergency response system.

Parts of the Guangdong and Fujian provinces will see torrential rains and risks of floods in small and medium-sized rivers, and chances of mountain torrents and urban and rural waterlogging are extremely high, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Typhoon Haikui is approaching China and Typhoon Kirogi could also affect the country, meaning the flood and typhoon prevention situation is grim and complicated, the ministry noted.

Typhoon Saola and Typhoon Haikui are expected to hit the country's eastern and southern coastal areas over the weekend.

The ministry said that China is bracing for the typhoons, with five helicopters and over 5,500 people deployed to aid emergency response work.