Soulik weakens, heavy rain warning remains

BEIJING - Typhoon Soulik has gradually weakened on its course to inlands, but heavy rain and strong winds will continue to pummel some parts of China, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast Sunday.

As Typhoon Soulik, the seventh typhoon to hit Chinese mainland this year, moved to Jiangxi province at 4 am Sunday after landing in Fujian province on Saturday afternoon, the downpours in Fujian and Zhejiang will gradually ease on Sunday, the NMC said.

The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center on Saturday night downgraded the warning for sea waves caused by Typhoon Soulik in Fujian and Zhejiang from top-level to yellow.

But in Jiangxi province, where the typhoon currently stays, most parts will be hit by rainstorms, and some regions in Anhui and Hubei will also be affected, the NMC warned.

The center forecast Soulik to move northwest at a speed of 25 to 30 km per hour, with dwindling forces.

Typhoon Soulik has left two dead, one missing and 104 others injured since it hit Taiwan early Saturday morning, and some 400,000 people in Fujian, 410,000 people in Zhejiang were affected by the typhoon.