Typhoon Fitow heads towards southeast China

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- China prepared Friday for Typhoon Fitow, which is expected to batter the southeastern part of the country with strong winds.

Meteorologists predicted Fitow would make landfall Sunday in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported. The meteorological agency issued an orange alert, the second strongest, for the southeast.

On Friday afternoon, the storm, which had strengthened from a tropical storm to a typhoon, was about 500 miles east of Taipei in the northwest Pacific. It was expected to reach the East China Sea on Saturday.

In Taiwan, meteorologists said the center of Fitow was not expected to make landfall, the Central News Agency reported. But they predicted the island will be hit by the storm's outer bands Sunday.