Beijing. China is set to be hit by another typhoon. One of the most powerful typhoons of this year is set to hit China’s holiday island Hainan. The outer bands of the storm are expected to hit Hong Kong and parts of southern China.
Typhoon Yagi is the world’s second-most powerful tropical cyclone ever recorded, behind only Atlantic Hurricane Beryl, which was a Category 5. Scientists have found that warming oceans caused by the human-caused climate crisis are causing storms to intensify more quickly. Just two days ago, Yagi was a tropical storm with maximum winds of 90 kilometres per hour (60 mph), but it rapidly gained strength over the warm waters of the South China Sea.
According to the report, the Hainan Meteorological Service forecast that the typhoon will make landfall from Qinghai in Hainan to Dianbai in neighbouring Guangdong province. The typhoon could be the most powerful storm to hit Hainan in the past 10 years. The typhoon, which has a maximum wind speed of 210 km per hour, will pass about 300 km southwest of Hong Kong on Friday morning. As Typhoon Yagi could become the most powerful storm to hit the region in a decade. It is expected to make landfall near the northern tip of Hainan in southern China, after which it will move inland through Guangdong province, bringing heavy rain and coastal flooding. The approaching super typhoon has brought Hainan’s cities to a standstill, with schools, businesses, restaurants and beaches closed and public transport, trains and flights halted. Residents of Hainan shared footage of an intense storm hitting the island, with lightning flashing across a purple night sky. Videos showed high waves crashing into the shore, knocking down rows of palm trees.