China has evacuated 400,000 people ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi, one of the year’s most powerful storms, which is expected to make landfall on Hainan Island later Friday, according to state media reports.
Transportation across the region has been severely impacted, with trains, boats, and flights suspended for a second day. Schools in parts of southern China remain closed, as authorities brace for the storm’s arrival.
Yagi, which has doubled in strength since hitting the northern Philippines earlier this week, is currently packing winds of up to 240km/h (150mph) near its eye.
Meteorologists warn that Yagi could cause “catastrophic” damage to Hainan and neighboring Guangdong province, the most populous in China.
The Indo-Pacific Tropical Cyclone Warning Center described Yagi as an “extremely dangerous and powerful” super typhoon, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, in an advisory issued on Thursday.
Hainan’s government has ordered all tourist attractions to shut down since Wednesday, warning of “massive and destructive winds.”
The world’s longest sea crossing, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge in Guangdong, has also been closed.
Heavy rains and strong gales have already begun affecting parts of southern China, with rainfall expected to reach up to 500mm.
The world’s longest sea crossing, the main bridge linking Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai in Guangdong, was also closed.
Parts of the region have been experiencing heavy rainfall and strong gales since Thursday. China’s weather authority expects rainfall to reach up to 500mm.
Hainan, which boasts sandy beaches and clear waters, is no stranger to typhoons. But just nine of the 106 typhoons that have landed in Hainan from 1949 to 2023 were classified as super typhoons, Reuters reported.
Chinese authorities believe Yagi will be the strongest typhoon to hit its southern coast in a decade.
Yagi is expected to make another landfall in northern Vietnam late on Saturday in a weakened state.
The military has mobilised some 460,000 officers to help manage the storm’s impact, Vietnamese media reported.
Vietnam’s deputy agriculture minister has warned that it could hit regions “crucial to the socio-economic development” of the region.
“Carelessness could result in catastrophic damage,” Nguyen Hoang Hiep said.
Four airports in the country’s north, including Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, will be shut on Saturday in antipaction of the storm, Vietnam’s civil aviation authority said.
Yagi comes a week after typhoon Shanshan hit Japan, killing at least six people and injuring hundreds.
Chioma Kalu
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