China braces for twin tropical cyclones after deadly flash floods

BEIJING (Reuters) -Two tropical cyclones will bring gales and heavy rain to China's eastern seaboard this week, with the first expected to make landfall on Sunday, after deadly flash floods struck the country's interior over the weekend.

Prapiroon, named after a Thai rain god, is expected to make landfall in China's southernmost island province of Hainan on Sunday night as a strong tropical storm, the first tropical cyclone to hit China this year, national forecasters said.

Formed in the South China Sea, Prapiroon's centre was about 275 km (170 miles) southeast of the Hainan city of Wanning as of 7 a.m. (2300 GMT).

The maximum wind speed near its centre will be up to 30 metres per second (110 kph) when Prapiroon lands, the National Meteorological Centre said, predicting torrential rains in Hainan and along the coast of Guangdong, China's most populous province.

Later this week, Gaemi, which was about 530 km (330 miles) northeast of Philippine capital Manila on Sunday morning, is expected to brush past the northern tip of Taiwan, then make landfall in China as a typhoon, packing wind speeds of up to 50 metres per second (180 kph), according to Chinese forecasters.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said it expected Gaemi to be closest to the island on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing heavy rain.

Extreme rainfall has hit China's southern, central and eastern parts in a flood season that started earlier than usual this year. Record rainfall pounded southern China in April to June, while in the north, dry weather parched fields and threatened crops.

In the northwestern province of Shaanxi, a highway bridge collapsed on Friday amid torrential rain, killing at least 12, with 31 people and 18 vehicles still missing.

In Sichuan province in the southwest, rescuers had retrieved eight bodies and pulled four people to safety by 8 p.m. on Saturday, after more than 30 went missing amid flash floods.

(Reporting by Sarah Wu, Qiaoyi Li and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by William Mallard and Tom Hogue)