Yagi (Enteng): One of the strongest typhoons of the year hits “China’s Hawaii”

Hong Kong
CNN
—

One of the most violent storms of the year hit the Chinese holiday island of Hainan on Friday. It was the strongest typhoon to make landfall there in ten years.

With maximum sustained wind speeds of 230 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour), Typhoon Yagi is currently a Category 4 hurricane – and is the world's second strongest tropical cyclone of 2024, surpassed only by Atlantic Hurricane Beryl, which was a Category 5 storm.

Significant damage from the storm – including to trees, buildings and power lines – as well as flooding and extremely high waves along the coast are expected in Hainan and the southern province of Guangdong. The storm is expected to maintain its strength when it makes landfall again in northern Vietnam on Saturday evening, bringing between 25 and 50 centimeters of rain.

Scientists have found that warmer oceans due to the man-made climate crisis are causing storms to intensify more quickly. Just two days ago, Yagi was a tropical storm with peak winds of 90 km/h, but it quickly strengthened over the warm waters of the South China Sea. As it roared toward Hainan, Yagi had been classified as a super typhoon, but lost some of its strength before making landfall and was downgraded.

The approaching typhoon had already brought cities in Hainan to a standstill. Schools, shops, restaurants and beaches were closed and public transport, including trains and flights, was suspended. Some cities in neighboring Guangdong and Guangxi provinces took similar measures.

On Chinese social media, Hainan residents shared footage of a violent storm that swept across the island on Thursday evening, with lightning flashing across the purple night sky.

Videos released by local media show high waves crashing onto the shore and knocking down rows of palm trees. According to China's maritime weather authorities, waves of up to seven metres are expected near the coasts of Hainan and Guangdong from Friday afternoon.

Often referred to as “China's Hawaii,” Hainan offers sandy beaches, good surfing, five-star resorts and duty-free luxury shopping. However, this is not peak tourist season and the island generally has a good track record of weathering strong storms.

Yagi is the strongest typhoon to make landfall on the island since Rammasun in 2014. This super typhoon – defined as wind speeds of over 240 kilometers per hour or 150 miles per hour – killed at least 62 people in Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces and caused direct economic losses of over 38 billion yuan ($5.3 billion).

This year, much of southern China was hit by weeks of extreme rains. Deadly floods and landslides blocked highways, destroyed homes and caused devastating financial losses as crops and livestock were wiped out.

China's Central Meteorological Administration renewed its red typhoon warning, the most serious alert level, for Hainan and Guangdong on Friday morning.

Yagi has already caused travel disruptions in parts of southern China as authorities issued storm warnings ahead of its arrival to contain the storm's impact.

According to the provincial government, long-distance bus services on Hainan have been suspended since midnight on Thursday. Train and high-speed rail services have been suspended since 6 p.m. on Thursday and all flights have been cancelled until midnight on Friday, it said.

More than 400,000 Hainan residents, including fishermen and construction workers, have been evacuated to safety and more than 34,000 fishing boats have returned to port to seek shelter from the typhoon, state media reported.

Authorities in Hainan have ordered the closure of all tourist attractions as they warned of “massive and destructive” winds.

To prepare for the impact, people were seen sealing windows and glass doors with tape to protect them against the gusts. Some placed sandbags around door gaps to prevent flooding. Residents rushed to stock up on food and supplies, leading to long lines and empty shelves in supermarkets.

The outer bands of Yagi brought heavy rain and strong winds to the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong on Thursday night. Authorities issued the third-highest storm warning, restricting some travel services and triggering school closures.

Several flights out of Hong Kong have been cancelled and the city's stock exchange, one of the largest in Asia, is currently closed. The storm warning was lowered shortly after noon on Friday.

Yagi, known as Enteng in the Philippines, brought heavy rains to the country earlier this week, killing at least 13 people, Reuters reported. Rainfall totaling 400 millimetres (15.8 in) was reported in some parts of Luzon, and rain from the storm's outer bands has continued to drench parts of the Philippines in recent days.