Source TOI
GUANGDONG, China — Typhoon Noul, the strongest tropical cyclone to strike China this year, slammed into the country’s southern coastline early Sunday, unleashing ferocious gale-force winds and torrential rainfall across multiple provinces. The catastrophic storm triggered widespread devastation, claimed at least 10 lives, forced the evacuation of more than 800,000 people, and left behind a trail of harrowing visuals captured on social media.
According to China’s National Meteorological Center, Typhoon Noul made landfall in Huidong County, situated within Guangdong province, at approximately 3:50 a.m. local time on Sunday. Packing sustained winds up to 90 mph near its center as it crossed the South China Sea, Noul became the 12th cyclone to hit China this season and the third to make landfall within the month. Ahead of its arrival, authorities had raised China’s national meteorological warning to a “Red Alert”—the highest level in the country’s four-tier weather warning system—before gradually downgrading it to orange and yellow as the storm moved further inland.
Flash Floods and Mass Evacuations
The storm’s passage unleashed heavy deluge across southern and eastern China, triggering flash floods and extreme weather risks stretching hundreds of miles. In northwestern China’s Gansu province, rain-triggered mountain flash floods resulted in at least 10 reported deaths, state news agency Xinhua confirmed. Meanwhile, neighboring provinces including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangxi remained under high flood alert as swollen rivers and waterlogged valleys threatened landslides and mudslides.
In Guangdong province alone, local government emergency management teams carried out massive preventive operations, relocating over 801,000 residents from vulnerable coastal zones, low-lying communities, and temporary construction sites into designated shelters. The Ministry of Water Resources upgraded its flood-control emergency response to coordinate disaster mitigation across the region.
Terrifying Visuals and Viral Moments
As the storm tore through urban centers and countryside alike, frightening videos recorded by residents quickly circulated across global social media platforms, highlighting the raw velocity of Noul’s gale-force winds.
One viral clip captured inside a residence in Guangdong showed extreme wind gusts blowing open a heavy exterior door. The sudden pressure burst hurled a baby’s crib across the living room, causing it to flip over. Miraculously, local reports confirmed the child inside was able to crawl out completely unharmed.
In nearby Hong Kong, another alarming video showed massive bamboo and metal scaffolding shearing off the exterior of a high-rise building and crashing onto the street below as severe gales battered the skyscraper. Hong Kong police reported no casualties from the scaffolding collapse, though local health authorities noted that at least 21 people in the city were treated for storm-related injuries. Across urban avenues, hurricane-force winds uprooted decades-old trees, shattered glass storefronts, and swept street signs through empty thoroughfares.
Travel Systems Paralyzed
The severe weather forced a near-complete shutdown of vital transportation hubs across southern China. Airports in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong suspended hundreds of incoming and outgoing flights. In Hong Kong alone, more than 350 flights were canceled over the weekend, stranding thousands of travelers.
Railway operators suspended high-speed train routes across Guangdong and neighboring corridors to prevent derailments caused by high winds or submerged tracks. Maritime authorities also ordered fishing vessels back to port and halted regional ferry lines. While airport operations began slowly resuming by Sunday afternoon, major transit delays are expected to persist for days as crews clear debris and inspect critical infrastructure.
National Relief Efforts and Inland Outlook
In response to the growing damage, the Chinese central government mobilized emergency relief measures. The National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief activated a Level-IV national disaster response, dispatching specialized working teams into Guangdong to assist local authorities with search, rescue, and resettlement operations. Additionally, China’s National Development and Reform Commission allocated 100 million yuan (approximately $14.7 million USD) in emergency funds to aid post-disaster rebuilding and restore basic municipal utilities.
Although Typhoon Noul has steadily weakened into a tropical depression after making landfall, meteorologists warned that the danger is far from over. The storm system is projected to drag heavy precipitation into inland provinces—including Jiangxi and Hunan—through the early part of the week. Emergency officials have urged local populations to stay vigilant against sudden flooding, landslips, and saturated soil structures as cleanup operations begin.
