One of the year’s strongest typhoons is churning its way towards ‘China’s Hawaii’
One of this year’s most powerful storms is set to slam into the Chinese holiday island of Hainan later on Friday, after its outer bands lashed Hong Kong and parts of southern China.
Packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), Super Typhoon Yagi is currently the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane — the world’s second-most powerful tropical cyclone of 2024 so far, only eclipsed by the Atlantic hurricane Beryl which was a Category 5.
Scientists have found that hotter oceans caused by the human-caused climate crisis are leading storms to intensify more rapidly. Just two days ago, Yagi was a tropical storm with top winds of 90 kph (60 mph), but it rapidly gathered strength over the warm waters of the South China Sea.
It is expected to make landfall Friday afternoon local time in southern China, near the northern tip of Hainan, before driving inland through Guangdong province, bringing massive rainstorms and coastal flooding.
The approaching super typhoon has brought cities across Hainan to a standstill, with schools, businesses, restaurants and beaches closed and public transport, including trains and flights, halted. Some cities in the neighboring provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi also adopted similar measures.
On Chinese social media, Hainan residents shared footage of an intense storm churning across the island on Thursday evening, with streaks of lightning flashing across a purple night sky.
Videos released by local media show high waves crashing on the shore, battering rows of palm trees. Swells as high as 7 meters (about 23 feet) are expected near the coasts of Hainan and Guangdong from Friday afternoon, according to China’s marine forecasting authorities.
Hainan is often dubbed “China’s Hawaii,” boasting sandy beaches, good surf, five-star resorts and duty-free luxury shopping. It is not currently peak travel season, however, and the island generally has a good track record of weathering powerful storms.
But Yagi could be the strongest typhoon to hit Hainan in a decade, according to state media, and its impact on less developed parts of the island, as well as other parts of southern China, could be significant.
Much of southern China was battered by weeks of extreme rainfall earlier this year. Deadly floods and landslides blocked highways, destroyed homes and caused devastating financial losses as they wiped out crops and livestock.
Most severe alert
China’s Central Meteorological Agency renewed its red typhoon warning, the most severe alert, on Friday morning for Hainan and Guangdong.
Yagi has already sparked some travel disruption across parts of southern China as authorities enact storm warning systems to mitigate its impact ahead of arrival.
Intercity bus services have been suspended on Hainan since midnight Thursday, according to the provincial government. Train and high-speed rail services have been suspended since 6 p.m. Thursday while all flights have been canceled until Friday midnight, it added.
More than 400,000 residents across Hainan, including fishing and construction workers, have been moved to safety and more than 34,000 fishing boats have returned to port to take shelter from the typhoon, state media reported.
Authorities in Hainan have ordered all tourist attractions to be shut down as they warned of “massive and destructive” winds.
Bracing for impact, people were seen taping windows and glass doors for additional reinforcement against the gusts. Some placed sandbags around door gaps to prevent flooding. Residents rushed to stock up on food and supplies, sparking long lines and empty shelves at supermarkets.
Yagi is expected to be the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Hainan since Typhoon Rammasun in 2014. That super typhoon killed at least 62 people across Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, causing more than 38 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) in direct economic losses.
The outer bands of Yagi brought heavy rain and high winds to the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong overnight Thursday. Authorities raised the third-highest storm warning, a move that restricts some travel services and sparks school closures. Multiple flights from Hong Kong have been canceled and the city’s stock market, one of Asia’s largest, is currently suspended.
Known as Enteng in the Philippines, Yagi brought heavy rainfall across the country earlier in the week. At least 13 people were killed, Reuters reported. In some parts of Luzon, rainfall totaling 400 millimeters (15.8 inches) was reported.
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