Southeast China on high alert as Typhoon Noul makes landfall

Chinese authorities issued a red alert, the highest level, as Typhoon Noul made landfall early Sunday morning in the southeastern province of Guangdong. The storm arrived with sustained winds of over 160 kilometers per hour (km/h), according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

Noul made landfall around 3:50 AM local time in the town of Pinghai. The NMC expects the typhoon to weaken rapidly as it moves north-northwest at a speed of 10 to 15 km/h throughout the day. By Sunday afternoon, it was forecast to downgrade to a severe tropical storm with winds around 110 km/h.

Despite the weakening forecast, the NMC maintained a red alert for torrential rainfall in Guangdong and parts of the neighboring provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, and Hunan. These areas are bracing for extremely intense precipitation, with forecasts predicting between 250 and 500 millimeters of rain.

In preparation for the typhoon, authorities had taken extensive precautions. By Saturday afternoon, more than 340,000 people in Guangdong and another 23,000 in Fujian had been relocated to safety. Hundreds of ships were also brought to harbor, and monitoring for potential flood indicators was intensified across seven provinces.

In Hong Kong, the local meteorological observatory raised its alert to the second-highest level. The typhoon caused at least nine injuries and led to the cancellation of approximately 700 flights and nearly 200 train services. Noul is the twelfth typhoon recorded this year and follows Typhoon Bavi, which impacted Taiwan and China's Zhejiang province less than two weeks prior, causing injuries and widespread evacuations.