China evacuates 400,000 people due to super typhoon

It reached the northern Philippines on Monday and continues to move towards Guangdong province. In the Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, authorities have begun preparations for the evacuation of about 400,000 people. This is reported by the publication Phys.org.

The typhoon hit Calayan Island - part of the sparsely populated Babuyan Ridge - at 15:00 local time. Wind gusts of up to 295 km/h were recorded at the storm's epicentre, with an average wind speed of 215 km/h.

"I woke up to the wind hitting the windows. It sounded like a running engine," said a resident of the coastal town of Aparri in Cagayan province.

On Calayan Island, part of the roof of a school was blown off and thrown onto an evacuation centre, which sustained damage. One person suffered minor injuries.

Local official Herbert Singun showed the broken trees in a video call:

"There were eight coconut palms. Only four are left. This shows the strength of this typhoon."

Officials say more than 10,000 people have been evacuated, with schools and government offices closed in 30 provinces and the Manila metropolitan region.

Shenzhen authorities on Sunday night announced preparations to evacuate hundreds of thousands of residents in coastal and low-lying areas. In other cities in Guangdong province , classes have been cancelled, businesses and transport have been suspended.

Cathay Pacific Airlines (Hong Kong) said more than 500 flights have been cancelled since Tuesday evening. Flights will only resume during daylight hours on Thursday.

Taiwan's weather service is warning of extremely intense rainfall in the eastern part of the island.

"The radius of the typhoon is about 320 kilometres. Even if the centre is still far away, the outer circulation is already having an impact," forecasters explained.

According to fire service spokesman James Wu, evacuations have begun in mountainous areas of Pingdong county. He expressed fears that the damage could be comparable to Typhoon Koinu two years ago, when power transmission towers collapsed and metal roofs were torn off houses.

Severe flooding and landslides are expected on the main Philippine island of Luzon, warned weather service specialist John Grender Almario.

Notably, the flood threat comes amid mass protests over a corruption scandal surrounding poorly implemented flood defence projects.

The Philippines faces an average of 20 typhoons every year and most of the population lives in at-risk areas. Scientists say global warming is making such storms increasingly destructive.