Sawt Falasteen - China evacuates 20,000 people as Typhoon Noul nears

The typhoon is forecast to make landfall in the coastal area stretching from Hong Kong to Guangdong province between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, China's National Meteorological Center said.

The Chinese weather forecaster maintained an orange typhoon alert on Saturday, the second-highest level in its four-tier system.

Parts of Guangdong and neighbouring Hunan and Jiangxi provinces are set to receive heavy rainfall from Saturday to Monday, it said.

When the typhoon makes landfall, it is forecast to have maximum sustained winds of 126-151 kilometres per hour (78-94 miles per hour).

More than 20,000 people have been evacuated in Guangdong, state broadcaster CCTV said in a statement late Friday.

Fishing vessels operating at sea in the province had returned to ports to "shelter from the storm", it added.

Guangdong will suspend some train services Saturday morning, with all train services in the province to be halted on Sunday, CCTV said.

Schools in Guangdong's Chaozhou city were instructed to suspend on-campus activities, according to local media reports.

- High risk of disaster -

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said it had cancelled all flights scheduled to arrive and depart from Hong Kong International Airport between 1:15 am and 6:00 pm local time Sunday (1715 GMT Saturday and 1000 GMT Sunday).

"A small number of other flights will be delayed as we set up our flying plan to resume once the typhoon passes," it said in a statement Saturday.

Guangdong's Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport said airlines would adjust flight schedules from Sunday morning to around midday "depending on weather conditions".

Typhoon Noul is "characterised by deep inland penetration, a prolonged duration, heavy cumulative rainfall, a path traversing complex terrain, and a high risk of causing disasters", CCTV said, citing meteorologists.

Authorities upgraded Guangdong's emergency response for "flood and typhoon control" to the third level in its four-tier system on Saturday afternoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

A level-four flood emergency response for Jiangxi and Hunan was also activated, Xinhua added.

Extreme weather has already wreaked havoc on southern and central China this month, with 39 people killed when Typhoon Maysak triggered devastating floods in Guangxi.

Maysak also caused thunderstorms and gale-force winds that killed 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei.

Scientists warn the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.

China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon neutral by 2060.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST