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FUZHOU, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Railway authorities in east China announced on Thursday that 341 trains in Fujian Province would be canceled from Friday to Sunday to prepare for this year's first typhoon.
Typhoon Nepartak is forecast to make a landing on the coast of Fujian on Saturday morning, bringing gales and heavy rain to the province and neighboring regions.
From Friday to Monday, precipitation could be up to 300 mm.
Earlier, transport authorities in Fujian have ordered to halt the Fujian-Taiwan ferry service from Thursday and fishing boats from Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang have been ordered back to port.
Typhoon Nepartak is expected to worsen the flooding situation with many rivers and lakes already above warning levels.
Hail and rain have killed 160 people recently and 28 are still missing, mainly along the Yangtze River and its tributaries.
Floods and landslides have forced the evacuation of 1.84 million people, levelled 56,000 houses and destroyed 560,500 hectares of crops.
Authorities estimated economic losses of 57.8 billion yuan (8.6 billion U.S. dollars).
In the worst hit province, Hubei, 69 people are dead and 16 more are missing.
