A powerful typhoon left Taiwan unscathed Friday, but prompted officials in neighboring China to issue the country's highest typhoon warning of the year, AP reported. Typhoon Muifa dusted Taiwan's northern edges with light rain and moderate winds, though officials warned that any sustained precipitation could cause mudslides in mountainous regions of the island. Across the Taiwan Strait, China's Central Meteorological Administration put Muifa about 485 miles (770 kilometers) southeast of Ningbo in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang late Friday morning. It said it was packing winds of 102 mph (162 kph). The meteorological administration said the storm was predicted to move northwesterly, gaining intensity as it neared the China's coast on Friday night. It said it was expected to make landfall between northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu provinces late Saturday or early Sunday. The CMA forecast coincided with it issuing its first "orange alert" of the summer typhoon season. That requires local officials to prepare emergency responses to deal with the storm's effects. Put on immediate alert were administrations in Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu, while their counterparts in Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong were told to stand by, pending updates on the storm's trajectory. -- SPA
