News / Services set to shut down as 'super typhoon' heads for South China

Image: Satellite from the Hong Kong Observatory

05/09/2024

This story will be updated as the situation unfolds.

China is bracing for the arrival of ‘Super Typhoon’ Yagi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit the country in nearly a decade.

The typhoon hit the Philippines earlier this week, but has since doubled in strength, and according to the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), Yagi now carries sustained winds of 210kph near its centre.

This morning, its eye was located 610km south-east of Zhanjiang City in Guangdong and was moving west at 10-15kph towards China’s southern provinces.

It is likely to have the biggest impact on neighbours Guangdong and Hainan and is set to reach land between Qionghai and Dianbai tomorrow.

“Yagi will move across the northern part of the South China Sea today and tomorrow, moving in the general direction of the vicinity of Leizhou Peninsula to Hainan Island,” said HKO.

Freightos’ head of research, Judah Levine, said: “Super Typhoon Yagi, which caused flooding in the Philippines this week, has strengthened and is expected to pass over the island of Hainan and parts of southern China on Friday before continuing on to northern Vietnam, Laos and Thailand over the weekend.

“Once there, it is expected to lead to significant flooding as well as disruptions to air and ocean port operations which, in many places, are already slowing down in anticipation of its arrival.

“The more significant port closures will likely be limited to a smaller subset of major ports like Haikou, Sanya, Zhanjiang, Beihai, and Haiphong, as the storm will pass several hundred miles south of major logistics hubs like Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

“Major disruptions are not expected to significantly disrupt operations there but heavy rains have already led to flight cancellations, including out of Hong Kong, which has seen air cargo volumes surge on e-commerce trade this year.”

Cathay Pacific assured customers this morning that, “based on assessments of operating conditions”, no flight cancellations are expected today. However, the Hong-Kong based carrier said it was closely monitoring the weather situation and recommended customers continue to check their flight status.

Data from Flight Radar shows nearly all inbound and outbound flights from Hainan’s Haikou Airport are to be cancelled from 8pm today.

“Hainan upgraded its emergency response to Yagi to the highest level at 11.30am, according to the provincial disaster management authority,” reported Chinese news outlet Xinhua today.

Train and ship operators also suspended operations in Hainan this morning and the HKO said it would issue its third-highest typhoon signal, 8, on at 6.20pm, which will close many businesses and reduce transport services.

HKO offers a live tracker of Super Typhoon Yagi