With super typhoon winds, Yagi whirls towards Southern China

By Farah Master

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Southern Chinese provinces and cities braced for the arrival of super typhoon Yagi, shutting schools and postponing flights ahead of its expected landfall along Hainan's subtropical coast in what could be the most powerful storm to hit China in years.

Yagi is the Japanese word for goat and for the constellation of Capricornus, a mythical creature that is half goat, half fish. It has more than doubled its strength since devastating northern Philippines earlier this week.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 209 kph (130 mph) near its eye, Yagi registers as the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024 so far, after the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane Beryl.

Typhoons are becoming stronger, fuelled by warmer oceans, amid climate change, scientists say. Last week, Typhoon Shanshan slammed into southwestern Japan, the strongest storm to hit the country in decades.

Yagi strengthened into a super typhoon on Wednesday night and was around 500 km (300 miles) southeast of the city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong province on Thursday afternoon. Authorities had raised the typhoon alert to the highest level.

It is expected to move at a speed of 10-15 kmh (6-9 mph) bringing torrential rains to the southern coastal areas of Guangdong and Hainan island. Yagi is due to further strengthen and make landfall along the coast from Qionghai in Hainan to Dianbai, Guangdong from the afternoon to the night of Sept 6.

Trains and boats suspended operations in Hainan on Thursday morning, while many schools across southern China, including in the financial hub of Hong Kong and gambling hub Macau were shut.

Hong Kong said it would issue its third-highest typhoon signal, 8, on Thursday at 6.40 p.m., which will shut many businesses and reduce transport in the special administrative region.

The city's weather observatory said intense rain bands would affect the territory later on Thursday with heavy showers to continue on Friday. Several flights due to leave and arrive from Hong Kong's international airport on Friday have been cancelled.

If signal 8 remains in place on Friday morning, the city's stock exchange will close.

GUANGDONG, HAINAN

Guangdong province upgraded its emergency response level to the highest for strong wind, while the nearby gambling hub of Macau said it would raise its typhoon signal, like Hong Kong, between 8pm-11pm on Thursday.

The main bridge linking Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai in Guangdong will be closed on Thursday evening as authorities shut the world's longest sea crossing until further notice.

All inbound and outbound flights from Hainan's Haikou airport would be suspended from Thursday at 8pm until Friday midnight, local authorities said, as they closed beaches and coastal tourist attractions.

Super typhoon Yagi's projected landfall in Hainan is rare, as most typhoons landing on the duty free island are classified as weak. From 1949 to 2023, 106 typhoons landed in Hainan but only 9 were classified as super typhoons.

At least 13 people were killed in the Philippines earlier this week due to Yagi.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Woo and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Michael Perry and Miral Fahmy)