HAIKOU/GUANGZHOU – Super Typhoon Yagi, the 11th typhoon of the year, made landfall in the coastal area of Wengtian town, Wenchang city, Hainan province, on Friday afternoon.
The typhoon, packing winds exceeding 234 km per hour, hit the coast of Wengtian township in Wenchang city at 4:20 pm.
The typhoon is expected to continue in a west-northwest direction, passing through Wenchang, Haikou, Chengmai, and Lingao cities and counties in Hainan before entering the Beibu Gulf from late night Friday to early morning Saturday.
The storm is forecast to make a second landfall along the coastal region from Fangcheng Port in Guangxi province to northern Vietnam, potentially reaching typhoon or strong typhoon intensity. Following this, Typhoon Yagi's intensity is expected to rapidly weaken.
READ MORE: Guangdong raises emergency response as it braces for Typhoon Yagi
The northern part of Hainan has experienced strong winds ranging from level 13 to 16, while some cities and counties have faced power outages.
Flights from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to airports in Hainan province scheduled for Friday have been canceled due to the approaching super Typhoon Yagi.
The management of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport announced the cancellation of the flights between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang in western Guangdong on Friday morning.
READ MORE: China sends task forces to guide typhoon response in Guangdong, Hainan
Due to Yagi, several universities in Guangzhou, Zhanjiang and Guangdong's Zhuhai have adjusted registration dates for new students previously scheduled for the coming weekend.
About 3,000 vehicles and 4,500 drivers and passengers had been stranded in Zhanjiang's Xuwen county by 7 pm on Thursday as they waited to take ferries across the Qiongzhou Strait between Guangdong and Hainan.
The ferry service was suspended at midnight on Wednesday.
With Xinhua inputs
