Thousands of fishing boats have been called back to port in southern China as authorities brace for the arrival of tropical storm Nalgae, which has already wreaked havoc in the Philippines.
Some parts of southern China are still reeling from the damage caused by tropical storm Nesat, which killed at least four people, forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents, triggered floods and toppled houses.
Authorities in the island resort of Hainan said Monday they had ordered more than 27,000 boats back to harbour, the official Xinhua news agency said.
A statement on the provincial government's website said Nalgae, which has weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm, was currently at sea and moving towards the island, packing winds of up to 108 kilometres (67 miles) an hour.
The storm could make landfall in Hainan on Tuesday, it added, just days after Nesat hit the island as a typhoon before weakening to a tropical storm.
Nesat caused damage in Hainan, but wreaked more havoc in the southern region of Guangxi where it triggered widespread flooding, killing four people and causing direct economic losses of at least 1.6 billion yuan ($251 million).
Both Nesat and Nalgae have devastated the Philippines, which deployed helicopters, inflatable boats and amphibious vehicles in attempts to evacuate tens of thousands stuck in rising flood waters.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Manila has recorded three fatalities from Nalgae, and said Nesat left at least 55 people dead after it unleashed strong winds and devastating floods.
Another 28 remain missing while 360,000 people are either in evacuation centres or stranded in the flooded areas and in need of relief, according to the civil defence office in Manila.
