BEIJING - China’s flood control authority on Sept 15 initiated a Level-III emergency response to cope with possible flooding as typhoon Kalmaegi approaches the country’s southern regions.

Kalmaegi is forecast to make landfall somewhere between Wuchuan in Guangdong Province and Wanning on Hainan Island around noon of Sept 16, according to the National Meteorological Center.

Coastal areas in Guangdong, all of Hainan Island, and southern parts of Guangxi and Yunnan are expected to be hit by downpours in the coming three days, the Center said.

China has a four-level Typhoon emergency response system, with level one calling for a top emergency response, while level four represents the lowest.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have issued a disaster relief alert for typhoon Kalmaegi, urging local departments to be on around the clock stand by.

Both Guangdong and Hainan provincial governments issued Grade I alerts on Sept 15 for Kalmaegi, which was 645 km southeast of Leizhou City, Guangdong Province at 4 pm of Sept 15.

The storm is moving at a speed of 30 km per hour northwestward with winds of up to 137 km per hour, said the National Meteorological Center.

In Hainan, spokesman for the provincial flood control headquarters Chen Wu said nearly 26,000 fishing boats had returned to port.

Schools, government units who have no work related to typhoon prevention, and enterprises, will have Tuesday off in Haikou, the provincial capital.

Shipping services and passenger trains on the Qiongzhou Strait, which connects Hainan and Guangdong, were suspended at 1 pm of Sept 15.