Super Typhoon Yagi Drenches Southern China Ahead of Landfall

Super typhoon Yagi barreled toward southern China on Friday, forcing school and business closures, disrupting travel and raising alarms about the risks of landslides and floods before its expected landfall in the evening.

Yagi packed maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour on Friday afternoon, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. It was about 65 miles east of Wenchang, a city in Hainan Province, according to China’s National Meteorological Center.

The super typhoon, one of 2024’s most powerful storms, was forecast to make landfall in Hainan on Friday evening, the Chinese center said. It would be the strongest typhoon to hit Hainan in a decade, before crossing the Gulf of Tonkin and making landfall again as a weaker storm in northern Vietnam on Saturday afternoon.

The heavy rain in southern China began on Thursday and was expected to last into Sunday, forecasters said. Parts of Hainan and Guangdong provinces will receive more than 20 inches of rain in a day, the National Meteorological Center said.

Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi provinces raised their emergency response to the highest level, warning residents of the risks of landslides and floods. National task forces were sent to Guangdong and Hainan to help prepare for severe weather.

Hainan authorities asked residents not to leave home and ordered all nonessential businesses, markets, public transportation, schools and tourist sites closed. The province evacuated more than 20,000 residents and 76,000 shipment workers.

Guangdong’s transport department closed six highways and a major bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai. In Hainan, Haikou Meilan International Airport canceled all flights that had been