China issues alert for typhoon Haiyan

The China National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre Friday issued a warning for very high sea waves generated by typhoon Haiyan.

According to the centre, Haiyan, the 30th and strongest typhoon to hit China this year, is now influencing the eastern part of the South China Sea, with three-metre waves near Dongsha island, reports Xinhua.

From Friday night to Saturday daytime, six to nine-metre waves will appear, with three to four metre waves further north.

As waves may reach nine metres, the centre asked ships to return to ports, and told coastal areas to take precautionary measures in advance.

The Bohai and Yellow Sea will also be very rough Saturday with three to 4.5-metre waves, while two to three-metre waves will hit Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin and the Shandong Peninsula.

The centre also issued an alert for storm surge, estimating that from Saturday noon to night, 50-130 cm of storm surge will appear in Bohai Sea, and 60-160 cm in Laizhou Bay in southern Bohai.