South China's Guangdong Province issued a red warning alert on sea wave on Thursday as Typhoon Nuri, the 12th tropical storm this year, approached, according to local flood control headquarters.

Typhoon Nuri was moving northwestward at a speed of 15 to 20 km per hour and expected to hit the coastal areas between Shanwei and Yangjiang in Guangdong from Friday noon till night.

On Thursday, billows, about six to seven meters high, lashed the province's coastal areas.

Force 12 wind, torrential rain and geological hazards were expected when the typhoon landed, a headquarters spokesman said.

By Thursday evening, 45,374 vessels and 159,332 people had been recalled to harbors in the province. Another 87,000 people were evacuated.

Both Guangdong and neighboring Fujian Province had been hit by lingering heat with temperatures rising to 37 degrees Celsius. The observatories expected the impending typhoon to cool the air.

The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday night issued an urgent notice requiring fishery and agricultural departments in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangdong to keep the public informed and help fishing vessels avoid risk.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)