Typhoon makes multiple landfalls
Ewiniar, the fourth typhoon formed in the northwestern Pacific this year, landed in Haikou, Hainan province, at 2:50 pm on Wednesday after first making landfall at 6:25 am at Xuwen county in South China’s Guangdong province, the Hainan Meteorology Administration said in the afternoon.
It said wind speeds gusting to as high as 72 kilometers per hour were expected in the next 24 hours in northern parts of Hainan island.
Areas of southern China affected by Ewiniar, including Hainan and Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have seen torrential rainfall since Tuesday.
Heavy rainfall was likely to linger in the region from Wednesday to Friday, the central meteorological authority said on Wednesday.
More than 550 millimeters of rainfall is forecast for northern parts of Hainan in the next few days, and Guangdong, Guangxi and the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian should also brace for heavy rain, the central meteorological authority said.
As of 6 am on Wednesday, 218 millimeters of rain had been recorded in Puqian town on the eastern coast of Hainan, with rainfall exceeding 100 mm in seven cities and counties, including Haikou, Lingao, Chengmai and Changjiang.
All trains heading north from the island via the crossstrait Yuehai Railway ferry were halted and dozens of flights at Hainan’s two major airports, in Haikou and Sanya, were canceled or delayed due to the typhoon. The highspeed railway running around the island stopped operation on Tuesday evening and remained closed on Wednesday.
Schools and kindergartens in cities including Haikou, Hainan’s provincial capital, and Shenzhen in Guangdong, which issued red alerts for heavy rain, were closed on Wednesday.
The heavy rain has caused traffic problems for Haikou residents, with traffic blocked by flooding on several roads. The city government has ordered education departments and the traffic police to make full preparations to reduce the difficulties caused by the typhoon for students sitting the national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao, from Thursday to Saturday.
The government will arrange shuttle buses for exam locations in low-lying areas. A total of 854 workers from the power supply system have checked the grid and another 700 workers are ready to fix any problems that might occur.
The 12345 hotline also will offer help for candidates during the examination.