Typhoon Prapiroon brings rainstorms, strong gusts to south China

Many parts of south China witnessed rainstorms and gusty winds from Sunday to Monday morning due to Typhoon Prapiroon, the fourth typhoon of the year, according to local meteorological authorities.

From 8am Sunday to 10am Monday, torrential rains hit eastern, central and western Hainan. A total of 12 cities and counties in the island province of Hainan, including the provincial capital Haikou, saw rainfall exceeding 100 mm.

The coastal areas and waters off Hainan experienced widespread gusts, with the strongest recorded in Wancheng Town in Wanning City, reaching 38.2 meters per second.

After making landfall in Wanning City around 1:30am Monday, the typhoon moved into the eastern waters of the Beibu Gulf by 10am.

The meteorological observatory of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region raised the emergency response level for a major meteorological disaster (typhoon) from Level IV to Level III at 9:30am. Monday and maintained the yellow alert for a typhoon.

China has a four-tier emergency response system for flood control, with Level I being the most urgent response, and a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Eight cities in Guangxi experienced strong winds from 8am Sunday to 8am Monday. The maximum wind speed, recorded in the Weizhou Town of Beihai City, reached 24.8 meters per second.

During the period, torrential rains hit 19 townships across nine cities in the region, with the maximum rainfall reaching 38.3 mm in the Qiexue Township of Donglan County, according to the regional meteorological observatory.

According to the weather forecast, the center of the typhoon will move northwestward at a speed of around 15 km per hour, possibly making a second landfall between the Guangxi city of Qinzhou and the Vietnamese city of Haiphong.

The cities of Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang and Chongzuo are expected to see an accumulated rainfall of up to 200 mm from Monday to Wednesday due to the typhoon.