Beijing, July 22 (IANS) 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 8 a.m. local time on Sunday to 10 a.m. on Monday, torrential rain 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, Xinhua news agency reported.
The coastal areas and waters off Hainan experienced widespread gusts, with the strongest recorded in Wancheng Town in Wanning City, reaching 38.2 metres per second.
After making landfall in Wanning City around 1:30 a.m. (local time) on Monday, the typhoon moved into the eastern waters of the Beibu Gulf by 10 a.m. (local time)
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 9:30 a.m. (local time) on 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, colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Eight cities in Guangxi experienced strong winds, with the maximum wind speed recorded in the Weizhou Town of Beihai City, reaching 24.8 metres 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 centre 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.
–IANS
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