East China is bracing for typhoon Morakot's approach after it slammed into Taiwan Friday night.

Weather forecasters said late Saturday Morakot was likely to land on the coast from Cangnan, Zhejiang Province, to Xiapu, neighboring Fujian Province, between 8 AM and 10 AM Sunday.

eather forecasters said late Saturday Morakot was likely to land on the coast from Cangnan, Zhejiang Province, to Xiapu, neighboring Fujian Province, between 8 AM and 10 AM Sunday.

Although the typhoon this year is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before it arrives in the Chinese mainland, it was packing winds of 137 kilometers an hour at 7 AM Saturday and churning northwestwards at a speed of 15 to 20 kilometers an hour.

It has already unleashed torrential rain in Fujian where, at five sites, water levels have been recorded at 0.02 to 0.66 meters above warning levels.

The earlier tropical storm Goni has also wreaked havoc in South China Sea, leaving as many as 156 fishermen and crew members from Cambodia, Vietnam and China missing at once.

Chinese maritime authorities had rescued 146 by 6 PM and the remaining 10 from China were still missing.

Preparation in Fujian

More than 480,000 people in Fujian have been evacuated and its Zherong County received more than 300 mm of precipitation on Saturday afternoon.

In Luoyuan county of Fuzhou city, Fujian's capital, people stayed at home during the weekend and roads were almost empty.

Fewer sellers appeared in the county's vegetable market.

"The fields were flooded," said Li Sailian, a vegetable seller.

"Strong winds broke the ropes tying down the horsebeans, and the crown daisies (chrysanthemum greens) were destroyed," she said.

Li brought all her available stock to the market, fearing the storm would destroy it completely.

In downtown Fuzhou, where several big trees have already been toppled by gale-force winds, people were rushing to supermarkets for necessities before the typhoon arrived.

All flights from Saturday noon onwards at the airport in Fuzhou were cancelled, leaving more than 120 passengers stranded. Airport staff were helping with refunds.

Seventeen of the 312 flights to and from the airport in coastal Xiamen city were cancelled, most of which were heading to Anhui, Guangdong and Taiwan.

In Putian City, also in Fujian, all scenic sites and ports have been closed and school classes suspended. A team of 26,222 people has been formed and equipped with flood-control materials, said Huang Dongzhou, director of the city's flood control office.

All of the city's 7,168 fishing ships have returned to harbor, Huang said.

The province's Ningde city is strengthening its defences to bear the brunt of Morakot, local meteorological authorities said.

People there are also reinforcing reservoirs with bricks and stones. Water in the city's 20 major reservoirs is only at 54 percent of their combined capacity, so officials with the flood control office said they think the rainfall will help with drought relief, as long as proper measures are taken to ensure safety.

Residents are also busy reinforcing their own houses.

Chen Kongsheng, a 61-year-old man, has attached four large rocks to the girders of his house, so that the typhoon "won't tear off his roof".

About 118,000 people in the city have been evacuated, said Chen Rongkai, Communist Party chief of the city.

Ningde has readied 103 rescue boats, 15 rafts and 8,300 life jackets to help people affected by the typhoon.