Typhoon Noul Forces More Than 800,000 to Relocate in Southern China

Typhoon Noul made landfall in southern China's Guangdong province early Sunday, packing winds of up to 162 km/h (100 mph) near Huizhou city, before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved inland. Chinese officials described it as the strongest typhoon to strike the country so far this year, with wind speeds slightly exceeding those of Typhoon Bavi, which hit eastern and northeastern China roughly two weeks earlier.

Mass Relocations Across Guangdong

More than 801,000 people had been relocated for safety in Guangdong province as of Sunday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, with more than 340,000 evacuated ahead of the storm's landfall alone. China's National Meteorological Centre issued its first red alert — the highest level in the country's four-tier, color-coded warning system — for a typhoon this year, later downgrading it to orange and then yellow as Noul weakened.

Travel Disruption and Hong Kong Impact

Train services across Guangdong were canceled for Sunday, and more than 400 flights and numerous high-speed rail services were suspended across the region. In Hong Kong, roughly 350 flights were canceled over the weekend, stranding about 2,000 passengers at the airport, and authorities raised the city's typhoon warning to Signal No. 9 — the second-highest level — before lowering it as the storm moved inland. At least 21 people were reported injured across Hong Kong during the typhoon period, alongside numerous reports of fallen trees.

Flood and Landslide Risk Remains

Although Noul weakened after landfall, authorities warned its sprawling rainbands could keep producing heavy to torrential rainfall across southern China through Tuesday, with moisture also expected to reach inland provinces including Jiangxi and Hunan. China's Ministry of Water Resources upgraded its flood-control emergency response for Guangdong and several other provinces over the risk of mountain floods, while the Ministry and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued a red warning for flash floods covering Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and southeastern Xinjiang from Sunday evening through Monday evening.

Emergency Response

China's National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief activated a Level-IV national disaster relief emergency response for Guangdong — the lowest tier in the country's four-level system — and the National Development and Reform Commission allocated 100 million yuan (about $14.8 million) to support recovery efforts in the province. Working teams were dispatched to affected areas to assess damage and assist local authorities with relocating and resettling residents.

Regional Toll

Before intensifying over the South China Sea, Noul had already clipped the northern Philippines, where the country's disaster agency reported three people killed and one missing, along with more than 9,300 evacuations and damage to 235 houses.

Separately, and apparently unconnected to Noul's track, a flash flood struck a scenic area in Weiyuan County in China's northwestern Gansu province, killing at least 10 people and injuring 23 after sudden heavy rainfall trapped tourists in the area, according to Xinhua.