China's south braces for super Typhoon Yagi

Schools and offices were closed in parts of southern China on Thursday as the region braced for Typhoon Yagi.

It strengthened into a super typhoon on Wednesday night and is currently around 610 kilometers (379 miles) southeast of Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, China's Meteorological office said.

The typhoon is expected to make landfall along the region from Qionghai in Hainan to Dianbai in neighboring Guangdong province on Friday, according to Hainan Meteorological Service, where it will likely bring torrential rainfall.

Between 1949 to 2023, 106 typhoons have landed in Hainan but only nine were classified as super typhoons. Yagi has the potential to be the most powerful storm to hit the region in a decade.

Schools, trains, flights suspended

While the weather was calm in Hong Kong on Thursday morning, kindergartens and special schools were temporarily closed.

Meanwhile, thousands of fishing boats with some 70,000 fishers returned to the ports in Hainan and the surrounding area to seek shelter, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Local Hainan authorities suspended all flights to and from the Haikou airport from Thursday at 8 p.m. until Friday midnight. Beaches and coastal tourist attractions would also remain closed.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that some train services would be suspended starting Thursday evening.

Hong Kong authorities said they would consider issuing their third highest typhoon signal on Thursday afternoon. That would shut down many businesses and reduce transport in the special administrative region.

Typhoon Yagi has already killed at least 13 people in the Philippines, where it triggered landslides and floods earlier this week.

mk/nm (AP, Reuters)