Typhoon Prapiroon brings rainstorms and strong winds to southern China

According to local meteorological authorities, heavy rain and gusty winds were reported in large parts of southern China from Sunday to Monday morning due to Typhoon Prapiroon, the fourth typhoon of the year.

Torrential rains hit eastern, central and western Hainan from 8am Sunday morning to 10am Monday morning. A total of 12 cities and districts in the island province of Hainan, including the provincial capital Haikou, received more than 100mm of rain.

Coastal areas and waters off Hainan were hit by widespread gusts, with the strongest gusts recorded in Wancheng Town in Wanning City, with wind speeds reaching 38.2 meters per second.

After making landfall in Wanning City around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, the typhoon moved toward the eastern waters of Beibu Gulf around 10 a.m.

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Meteorological Observatory raised the emergency response level for a major meteorological disaster (typhoon) from level IV to level III at 9:30 a.m. on Monday and maintained a yellow warning for a typhoon.

China has a four-tiered emergency response system for flood control, with Level I being the most urgent response. In addition, the country has a four-tiered, color-coded weather warning system, with red indicating the most serious warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.

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

During that period, torrential rains fell in 19 counties in nine cities in the region. According to the regional meteorological observatory, the maximum rainfall was 38.3 mm in Qiexue township, Donglan county.

The forecast shows the typhoon’s center moving northwest at about 15 km/h (9 mph) and possibly making a second landfall between the Guangxi city of Qinzhou and the Vietnamese city of Haiphong.

In the cities of Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang and Chongzuo, a total rainfall of 200 mm is expected from Monday to Wednesday due to the typhoon.