Authorities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have warned of possible mountain torrents and mud-rock flows as destructive typhoon Krovanh is drawing near to it.

The local meteorological station announced that it expected that the typhoon would hit Guangxi's seaside city of Qinzhou at 12p.m. Monday, and the neighboring northern area of Vietnam.

Krovanh hit the south China island province of Hainan, southeast of Guangxi, at 4 p.m. Monday morning, and brought torrential rain to the northern part of the province, according to the Hainan Meteorological Station.

The typhoon entered Guangxi's Beibu Gulf at 10 a.m., swept northwest and passed the sea 18 km south of Weizhou Island at 1:40p.m., according to the meteorologists.

Affected by the typhoon, 18 cities and counties in southern Guangxi have been hit by heavy rain, with Beihai City the most seriously affected. All transportation in Beihai has been severed, and large areas of the city are suffering from a lack of water and power.

The meteorological station forecast that the typhoon would move northwest at a speed of 20 kph within the next 24 hours, and affect the coast between Qinzhou City and the northern part of Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2003)