Super Typhoon Yagi Slams China’s Hainan, Triggering Mass Evacuations
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Super Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm in Asia this year, struck China's Hainan province on Friday, causing widespread power outages, severe winds, and heavy rainfall.
Nearly one million residents were forced to evacuate as the storm wreaked havoc across southern China.
Super Typhoon Yagi made landfall in China's Hainan province on Friday, bringing fierce winds and torrential rain that led to mass evacuations and widespread power cuts.
The storm, with sustained winds of up to 234 km/h at its core, is the second most powerful tropical cyclone globally this year, following Hurricane Beryl in the Atlantic.
Yagi had strengthened considerably after killing 16 people in the northern Philippines earlier this week.
It hit the city of Wenchang in Hainan on Friday afternoon, paralyzing the island's infrastructure.
Xinhua, the official news agency, reported that more than 830,000 households lost power shortly after Yagi’s arrival.
A 7,000-member emergency team was prepared for repair operations as soon as conditions allowed, and by Friday night, power was restored to 260,000 households.
Ahead of the storm, the island, a popular tourist destination, had cancelled flights, suspended ferry services, and closed businesses.
Hainan’s 10 million residents were advised to stay indoors as the storm approached.
Yagi's impact extended beyond Hainan, as it shut down schools, businesses, and transportation across Hong Kong, Macau, and China's Guangdong province.
Airports in Vietnam, which Yagi is expected to reach by the weekend, also faced significant disruptions.
On Friday night, Yagi made a second landfall in Guangdong, crossing the Qiongzhou Strait with winds still exceeding 200 km/h.
In Guangdong, over 574,500 residents had been evacuated by noon, with the majority from Zhanjiang.
In Hong Kong, the stock exchange was closed, and schools remained shut.
Airport operations resumed after 50 flights were cancelled the previous day. The city’s typhoon warning was lowered by midday as the storm moved toward Vietnam.
The Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, the world's longest sea crossing, reopened on Friday afternoon after being closed since Thursday.
Yagi is the most severe typhoon to hit Hainan since 2014’s Typhoon Rammasun, which caused 88 fatalities and economic losses exceeding 44 billion yuan ($6.25 billion).
Formed over the warm waters east of the Philippines, Yagi followed a path similar to Rammasun, hitting China as a category-4 typhoon, damaging roads, bridges, and buildings.
No fatalities have been reported in Hainan so far.
Scientists link the increasing intensity of typhoons to warmer oceans driven by climate change.
Just last week, Typhoon Shanshan struck southwestern Japan, the strongest storm to hit the country in decades.