This year’s 12th typhoon, ‘Hongxia’, has landed in Huizhou, Guangdong at strong typhoon level, becoming the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year. Forty-three counties across the southern provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong are under the highest-level red alert for flash floods, and over 710,000 people have been urgently relocated throughout Guangdong Province.
According to integrated reports from CCTV News and China Weather Network, ‘Hongxia’ made landfall around 3:50 am on Sunday (July 26) along the coast of Pinghai Town, Huidong County, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province. Not only is it the first typhoon of the year to land in Guangdong, it has also surpassed the earlier ‘Maysak’ and ‘Bavi’ to become the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.
Meteorological departments predict that after making landfall, ‘Hongxia’ will move further inland, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei and other areas. Due to its circulation lingering over land for an extended period, the rainfall impact will last until around the 28th, and may reach as far as Henan and Shandong provinces. From 8 am on the 26th to 8 am on the 27th, some regions in central and eastern Guangdong, southern Jiangxi, southeastern Hunan, and southern Fujian are expected to experience heavy rainstorms, with isolated areas seeing extremely heavy rainfall (250 to 500 millimeters).
Due to the extremely high risk of flash floods, between 8 am on the 26th and 8 am on the 27th, a contiguous zone of 43 counties in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces has reached the red alert level for flash flood disasters. At 8 am on Sunday, the Ministry of Water Resources upgraded the flood defense emergency response to Level III for Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong, dispatched two additional working groups to the frontlines for on-site guidance and required close monitoring of the typhoon’s path and impact scope.
According to Southern Daily, the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control Headquarters upgraded its typhoon emergency response to Level I at 11 pm on Saturday (25th). As of midnight on the 26th, Guangdong Province had cumulatively relocated more than 715,000 people, with the number of relocated individuals in Huizhou and Shanwei each exceeding 190,000.
Due to the direct impact of the typhoon, all high-speed rail and regular trains within Guangdong Province were suspended on Sunday. Major airports in the Greater Bay Area and surrounding regions, including Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao’an, Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Jieyang Chaoshan, and Xiamen Gaoqi, have all dynamically adjusted their flight plans. In addition, all 1,249 leisure cruise vessels and yachts in Shenzhen’s jurisdiction have returned to port to shelter from the wind, and high-speed passenger ferries have also successively suspended operations.