HAIKOU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The southern Chinese island province of Hainan has ordered the suspension of ferry services in the Qiongzhou Strait starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday because of Typhoon Narra, local authorities said on Monday.

Ticket sales at all ports along the strait will be halted at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The suspension is expected to last one to two days, with the resumption of services to be announced based on weather conditions.

Typhoon Narra, the 19th typhoon of the year, was located in waters about 255 kilometers southwest of the city of Beihai in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at 10 p.m. on Monday, with maximum winds of 23 meters per second near its center.

China's National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan (around 7.37 million U.S. dollars) from the central budget to support emergency recovery work in Guangxi, where Typhoon Narra has already caused severe rainfall and floods.

China's National Meteorological Center on Monday issued blue alerts for severe convective weather and a yellow alert for typhoons and rainstorms, as multiple typhoons are forecast to bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to parts of the country.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe scenario, followed by orange, yellow and blue.