Over 400,000 people evacuated as powerful typhoon in decade hits China

China’s Wenchang city, in the north-east of Hainan Island, on Friday was hit by the most powerful typhoon in a decade. 

Amid the threat of “Typhoon Yagi”, over 400,000 people were evacuated from the island to safe grounds, BBC reports. 

Transport means were suspended such as trains, boats and flights while schools in the area were shut ahead of Yagi. 

As the authorities warned of strong and destructive winds, the tourist attractions have also been shut and warded off since Wednesday including the world’s longest sea-crossing which links Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai in Guangdong. 

Meteorologists have cautioned that Yagi can cause calamity in Hainan and the neighbouring province of Guangdong, China’s most populous province. 

The Indo-Pacific Tropical Cyclone Warning Center warned in an advisory on Thursday that Yagi is an extremely catastrophic and powerful super typhoon that can make a disastrous landfall. A super typhoon is equal to a “Category 5 hurricane”.

Yagi has come to China with double the power after causing havoc in the Philippines earlier this week. 

The typhoon had caused floods and landslides in the country, killing at least 13 in the northern Philippines and thousands were evacuated to safety, as per BBC. 

As for China, the weather authorities expect 500mm of rainfall in the region. 

The catastrophic typhoon is also expected to make its way to Vietnam late on Saturday but will be weaker. 

Vietnamese media reports that over 460,000 officers will be deployed to manage the disaster. 

The overall situation is daunting as BBC reports that scientists have stated that typhoons and hurricanes are becoming stronger and more frequent with climate change. They revealed that storms pick up more energy if the ocean waters are warmer, leading to higher wind speeds that ultimately result in typhoon storms and hurricanes.