Typhoon Matmo unleashed its force on southern China this Sunday, bringing a halt to transportation and necessitating the evacuation of more than 151,000 residents. Authorities are now bracing for significant flooding as the storm continues its path.
Early Sunday morning, as Matmo churned across the South China Sea, it boasted sustained winds of 104 miles per hour. This strength is comparable to a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Making landfall in Guangdong Province on Sunday afternoon, the typhoon is expected to gradually weaken as it pushes further inland towards Guangxi Province. Forecasters have issued warnings for heavy rainfall, with some areas potentially receiving 10 to 12 inches of rain through Monday afternoon, heightening the risk of severe floods.
The southern provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi are home to nearly 180 million people, and nearby Hainan Province is a popular resort island similar in size to Maryland. Matmo’s arrival coincides with China’s annual Oct. 1 National Day celebrations, a period typically marked by extensive shopping and travel.
For current information, officials recommend tracking Typhoon Matmo to see its likely path and wind arrival times.
As the typhoon neared China’s southern coast, officials in China issued a red alert, the highest warning level in their four-tier system for typhoons.
By Saturday evening, over 151,000 people had been evacuated from Guangdong, as reported by state-run China Central Television.
In Guangdong, expressways in Zhanjiang city were closed, and several ferry services connecting to Hong Kong, a Chinese territory east of Guangdong, were suspended.
Hainan’s government also took action, canceling classes and disrupting some transportation. Flight tracking data indicated that approximately 60 flights to and from the island’s international airport were canceled by early Sunday afternoon.
Further inland in Guangxi, tens of thousands of tourists were evacuated, and various tourist sites were temporarily closed.
Forecasters also project that the storm could bring torrential rain, strong winds, and potential flooding to parts of northern Vietnam by late Sunday, as stated by the country’s meteorological service.
Just last week, Matmo had already impacted Luzon, the Philippines’ most populous island. Thousands were forced to evacuate from a region still recovering from a devastating 6.9-magnitude earthquake that claimed at least 72 lives and injured around 300 others.
This marks the second major storm to threaten the area in under two weeks. In late September, Typhoon Ragasa caused 18 deaths and numerous injuries as it swept across the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. During that event, Guangdong Province authorities evacuated over one million people.