Students are released at Changmao Garden School in Haikou, Hainan province, on Sunday. Schools in 10 cities and counties in Hainan will take a day off on Monday as Typhoon Khanun approaches. (Huang Yiming/China Daily)
High-speed trains and flights have been delayed or canceled, and schools will be suspended in Hainan and Guangdong provinces, because of an approaching typhoon that is forecast to make landfall in the early hours of Monday along China's southern coast, the National Meteorological Center said on Sunday.
Schools in the cities of Sanya and Haikou, Hainan province, will be closed on Monday because of expected torrential rains and winds from Typhoon Khanun, the 20th typhoon of the year. Shenzhen and Zhuhai, in Guangdong, suspended schools on Sunday, according to the cities' governments.
In addition, as of Sunday at 11 am, 262 arrival and departure flights were canceled in Haikou, as winds have strengthened since Saturday night, the center said.
High-speed trains on Hainan island have been suspended since early Sunday, while ferries connecting the province with Guangdong on the mainland were also suspended starting on Saturday morning. It is unknown when they will restart.
"The typhoon is likely to make landfall on the coast between Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and Wenchang, Hainan, in the early hours of Monday," said Zhang Ling, chief forecaster at the center, adding: "It will be at its peak when it makes landfall."
From Sunday to Monday morning, the typhoon will bring strong winds and torrential rains to southern and southeastern coastal regions, including parts of Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong and Hainan, Zhang said.
These regions have already seen more rain since the beginning of October, especially in the eastern parts of Hainan, where Sanya is situated. Precipitation is double what was recorded during the same period last year, she said.
The center continued with an orange alert-the second highest level in the four-color tiered system for severe weather-for Typhoon Khanun on Sunday morning. It warned the affected governments to take precautions to minimize casualties and economic losses from rain-triggered floods, mudslides or other disasters.
After making landfall on Monday morning, the typhoon is expected to weaken and turn southwest toward central Vietnam, Zhang said.
Confronted with the approaching typhoon and possible disasters, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level 2 emergency response on Sunday, urging local authorities to make thorough preparations.
In Guangdong, Hainan and Zhejiang, the major regions affected by the typhoon, around 60,000 fishing boats returned and over 150,000 residents relocated, according to the bureau.
China has seen fewer typhoons this fall than in the past. Only four formed from Sept 1 to Oct 14, which is three fewer than the 30-year average. But Typhoon Khanun may be the leading storm in a new active period, and one or two typhoons could form and affect China in the next two weeks, the center said.
