Southern China Braces for Typhoon Mujigae

Oct 02, 2015 06:47 AM EDT

(Photo : REUTERS/China Daily) People set up sand bags to reinforce an embankment in front of an Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue as waves brought by Typhoon Dujuan slam the coastline in Quanzhou, Fujian province. Communities in southern China are preparing for Typhoon Mujigae less than a week after Typhoon Dujuan wreaked havoc in the region.

Meteorologists have warned holiday makers in southern China - particularly Hainan - to prepare for strong winds and heavy rainfall as Typhoon Mujigae makes landfall in the region this weekend.

Mujigae started as a tropical depression in the South China Sea on Thursday. But it quickly gained strength to become a typhoon on Friday morning. The storm, which is moving in the northeastern direction, has been measured to have a maximum speed of over 60 km/h.

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Mujigae has brought strong winds to parts of the Philippines' Luzon Island. On Thursday, the Philippine Weather Bureau announced a Public Storm Warning Signal 1 for several areas in Luzon. Some parts of the island have reportedly been inundated with about seven inches of rain since Thursday. Meteorologists say the bad weather will persist in the region until Saturday, Oct. 3, when Mujigae is expected to leave the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Observatory has announced that Mujigae will continue to gather speed as it moves towards Hainan and Guangdong. Before the storm makes landfall on Sunday, the region is expected to experience gales and heavy downpour.

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) has issued a blue warning for this approaching storm. This is the least severe warning on the country's color-coded weather alert system.

Meteorologists have also highlighted a strong possibility that Mujigae will continue to move towards northern Vietnam after landing in China.

Mujigae is the 22^nd storm in the region in 2015. It follows Typhoon Dujuan, which caused havoc in its wake earlier this week; claiming two lives and injuring more than 300 people.

This is not the first storm to be named Mujigae. 'Mujiagae' is reportedly a Korean word, which means 'rainbow.' In 2009, a tropical storm named Mujigae, followed a very similar path as the current typhoon. Tropical Storm Mujigae, which affected Luzon and Hainan between Sept. 8 - 12, caused damages amounting to several millions of dollars.

TagsTyphoon Mujigae, Tropical Storm Mujigae 2009, Typhoon Dujuan