The latest storm news on the afternoon of July 20 said that Typhoon Wipha is expected to move west at a speed of about 25 km/h and the intensity is continuing to increase. Typhoon Wipha is about to make landfall in the area between Chau Hai city and Tram Giang, Quang Dong province in the afternoon or evening of July 20.
In Chau Hai city, authorities raised the storm warning to red, the highest level, and raised the storm control emergency response to level 1 from 3am on July 20. Classrooms, traffic and business activities across Chau Hai have been suspended and people are advised to stay indoors.
At 8:30 a.m. on July 20, Hainan province raised the emergency response level for flood and storm prevention from level 4 to level 3 due to the forecast of strong winds and heavy rain affecting the island until July 22.
Typhoon Wipha, which devastated Taiwan (China) and the Philippines, also caused strong winds and heavy rain in Fujian and Hainan provinces, as well as Hong Kong (China). Of which, Hong Kong (China) has issued a storm warning No. 10, the highest level, as Typhoon Wipha approaches.
At the time of making landfall in China, Typhoon Wipha was forecast to reach an intensity of level 13 to level 14, with winds of over 150 km/h.
Quang Chau Daily noted that Quang Dong is preparing to cope with heavy rain, some areas will record rain such as water splashes and river water in some rivers with the possibility of rising. More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from the sea, while 266,000 residents have been evacuated inland. All fishing vessels have returned to port and 52 coastal tourist destinations have been closed.
According to the latest typhoon information from the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Typhoon Wipha is 89 km south-southeast of Hong Kong (China) and has been moving west at a speed of 24 km/h for the past 6 hours. The storm caused large waves, with maximum waves of 8.8 m.
Typhoon Wipha is forecast to make landfall in the vicinity of Yangjiang, China within the next 12 hours, then turn southwest, along the southern coast of China. The storm is expected to pass near Tram Giang and move back over the wide ocean in the Gulf of Tonkin within the next 24 hours.
After 24 hours, the storm will move slowly in the Gulf of Tonkin for about 24 hours.
However, JTWC forecasters note that in the Gulf of Tonkin, due to the influence of a strong high pressure strip pushing north, Typhoon Wipha will once again accelerate as it approaches the second landfall in the Red River Delta.
Typhoon No. 3 in the East Sea, also the 6th storm of the western Pacific typhoon season, has affected Taiwan (China) with the strongest winds of up to 101 km/h, gusts of up to 126 km/h.
China is one of the countries most severely affected by typhoons, with an average of eight typhoons per summer and fall.
In early September last year, Typhoon Yagi was the strongest autumn typhoon to hit China since it began recording meteorological data and the strongest typhoon to hit China in the past decade, causing direct economic damage of up to 72 billion yuan ($10 billion).
