Residents advised to prepare survival supplies good for up to three days ahead of Nepartak

Super typhoon Nepartak will worsen the flooding of Taihu Lake in coming days. The rain that will accompany the storm could raise the water level of the lake near Shanghai to a historic high.

Nepartak is expected to bring ferocious winds and driving rain as it makes landfall in Taiwan early on Friday and in Fujian province on Saturday morning before moving north to Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on Thursday.

Zhang Tao, chief forecaster at the center, said the typhoon will further aggravate the flooding situation in the lake, which is already at its second-highest level in history after a number of storms since June.

Water already stands at 4.8 meters - 0.15 meters above the level at which flood control infrastructure can guarantee safety.

"Precipitation brought by the typhoon will definitely take the lake to a more dangerous level," he said.

The basin area of Taihu Lake, which is located in the southern part of Jiangsu province and takes in some of the Yangtze River Delta, is one of China's most important economic hubs and is densely-populated.

With a total population of 59.9 million, the region's total GPD reached 6.3 trillion yuan ($940 billion) in 2014, according to the Taihu Water Authority, which falls under the Ministry of Water Resources.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has issued its second-highest emergency warning for the super typhoon, which is expected to bring precipitation of 80 to 150 millimeters to the Taihu Lake watershed.

The National Center for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs released a joint statement urging residents living the typhoon-battered area to purchase and store survival necessities for one to three days.

"The typhoon is very strong. It's moving fast, has high intensity and will bring a large amount of precipitation," said Gao Shuangzhu, chief typhoon forecaster at the meteorological center.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau said on its micro blog that it has already suspended 67 high-speed trains between Shanghai and cities in Fujian province in anticipation of typhoon impacts.

At least 128 people have died across 11 Chinese provinces since June 30 as a result of heavy flooding, according to the civil affairs ministry.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/08/2016 page4)