Beijing, July 25 (SANA)Chinese authorities evacuated more than 340,000 people from Guangdong province as Typhoon Noul approached southernChina, prompting widespread transport disruptions and emergency measures ahead of its expected landfall on Sunday.

The National Meteorological Center upgraded its typhoon warning from orange to red, the highest level in China’s four-tier alert system, after Noul intensified into a severe typhoon with maximum sustained winds of up to 48 meters per second.

Authorities suspended classes, work, business activities and public transport in parts of Guangdong, including Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shantou. Train services across the province were canceled for Sunday, more than 150 flights were canceled at Hong Kong International Airport, and maritime authorities directed more than 5,000 vessels to safe waters.

The storm is forecast to make landfall between Shenzhen and Haifeng early Sunday. China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its emergency response level in Guangdong, while the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a working group to coordinate disaster prevention efforts.

Guangdong has deployed rescue vessels, tugboats, helicopters and emergency response teams as authorities warned that heavyrainfallcould trigger flash floods, landslides and other hazards.

The precautions come as parts of southern and central China continue to recover from severe weather earlier this month, when flooding and storms left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured.