Hainan suspends ferry services as typhoon Yagi nears

Hainan, the southernmost province of China, upped its emergency reaction to typhoon Yagi on Wednesday (Sept. 4) by suspending part of its coastal ferry services.

While monitoring Yagi, the provincial meteorological service on Wednesday said it was gaining strength as it moves towards the island province, packing winds of up to 126 km per hour at its center.

Yagi was forecasted to make landfall somewhere between the city of Qionghai in Hainan and Dianbai District in the city of Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province on Friday.

Hainan upgraded its emergency response level for typhoons from Level IV to Level III on Wednesday.

The province plans to suspend ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait from Thursday along with all passenger train services into and out of the island from Thursday to Saturday, according to the provincial transport department Wednesday.

China's Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday activated a Level-IV emergency response to floods in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Yunnan in the wake of Typhoon Yagi.

From Thursday to Sunday, heavy rainfall is expected to hit Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan, and small and medium-sized rivers in these regions may exceed flood alert marks, the ministry said.

The ministry has dispatched two work teams to Hainan and Guangdong to guide typhoon, rainstorm and flood prevention and mitigation work.

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