Beijing [China], October 6: Typhoon Matmo made landfall in southern China during the holiday season, causing many activities to be canceled and hundreds of thousands of people to be evacuated.
China's meteorological agency announced on October 5 that Typhoon Matmo made landfall in the eastern sea of Xuwen County, Guangdong Province (China) at around 2:50 p.m. (local time) on October 5, according to Xinhua News Agency. Winds near the center of the storm reached 151 km/h.
Guangdong province has raised its emergency response to the typhoon to the highest level, evacuating more than 150,000 people to safety.
Typhoon Matmo is the 21st storm from the Pacific Ocean to enter China this year.
The government of Zhanjiang city in Guangdong province has suspended all business, school and traffic activities since the evening of October 4. All roads in the area have been closed since the morning of October 5. Maritime authorities have suspended activities in the affected sea area and deployed rescue forces.
In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, all coastal passenger ferry operations have been suspended. Approximately 26,000 tourists on Weizhou Island in the region have been evacuated, with no one stranded. Local authorities have also evacuated vessels to safe anchorages and activated the highest response status.
Hainan island province has evacuated more than 197,000 people from high-risk areas as of noon on October 5.
The storm hit during a long holiday in China. Flights and ferries in Hainan were canceled from the evening of October 4.
Typhoon Matmo is also expected to bring heavy rain to Yunnan province in southern China. Previously, the storm caused heavy rain and flooding in many parts of the Philippines. The storm also affected and canceled dozens of flights in Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post .
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
