BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Tuesday elevated the typhoon emergency response to Level III for Guangdong and Hainan provinces as Typhoon Ragasa, the 18th of the year, approaches landfall.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, the powerful typhoon is expected to make landfall along Guangdong's coast between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang from midday to late Wednesday.
The ministry said in an update later on Tuesday that the national commission for disaster prevention has dispatched a team to affected areas of Guangdong to assess the situation on the ground and aid local disaster relief efforts.
The ministry said it has mobilized 143 rescue teams from centrally administered state-owned enterprises. These teams are capable of providing a rescue force of more than 7,400 personnel and over 2,500 pieces of rescue equipment to assist affected regions in road clearance and emergency flood drainage.
Due to the typhoon's impact, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Tuesday activated a Level-IV emergency typhoon response in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which neighbors Guangdong.
The Ministry of Water Resources, meanwhile, has urged local water resource departments in Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian provinces, as well as in Guangxi, to monitor the typhoon closely, issue early warnings promptly, and provide timely advice to local governments should the need to evacuate people from dangerous areas arise.
