Typhoon Noul brings travel chaos to southern Chinese tech hubs Shenzhen and Guangzhou

Typhoon Noul made landfall in China's Guangdong province on Sunday, bringing heavy rainfall and significant travel chaos to the region. High-speed rail services and flights across the province were canceled as the storm hit.

Noul, identified as the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year, arrived in Huizhou city, Guangdong, around 3:50 a.m. Sunday. The National Meteorological Centre had issued its first red typhoon warning of the year, the highest alert level, on Saturday evening. The warning was later downgraded to an orange alert as the storm began to weaken.

The typhoon brought sustained winds of up to 162 kilometers per hour (100 mph). Forecasters predict the storm will move northwest and weaken rapidly. However, they cautioned that it would still bring torrential downpours across large areas of southern China. This includes major technology hubs such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as the manufacturing centers within the Pearl River Delta.