HONG KONG, July 26 (Reuters) – Typhoon Noul made landfall early on Sunday in southern China, bringing heavy rain and gale-force winds across Guangdong province and neighbouring Hong Kong, with authorities warning that heavy to torrential rain would continue until Tuesday.
Noul, which means the glow of sunrise or sunset in Korean, is the 12th tropical cyclone this year and the third to hit China this month. It has forced the relocation of more than 700,000 people in Guangdong province, authorities said on Sunday.
Noul, the strongest typhoon to hit China so far in 2026, struck the coast of Huidong County, a coastal area in southern Guangdong province, at around 3:50 a.m. (1950 GMT Saturday) as a strong typhoon, Guangdong authorities said.
As it moves inland it is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to southern provinces including Jiangxi and Hunan, with rainfall likely to persist until Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV said.
The National Meteorological Centre forecast heavy to torrential rain from Sunday until 8:00 a.m. Monday across much of southern China, with extremely heavy to exceptional downpours expected in some areas including southern Fujian.
Several provinces were placed on the highest alert level for flash floods. Local governments must pay special attention to mountain-river zones, construction sites, valleys, and bridges.
The typhoon is weakening as it moves further inland, Hong Kong’s Observatory said on Sunday, adding that gale force southwesterly winds continue to affect parts of the city.
Authorities in the Asian financial hub downgraded the Typhoon Signal No. 8 to Signal No. 3 at 12:40 p.m. on Sunday.
It had overnight raised the storm alert to its second highest Typhoon Signal No. 9 as the storm passed within 80 km (50 miles) of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong airport authorities said flight operations will gradually begin resuming on Sunday afternoon after having been largely suspended for more than 12 hours.
(Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong and Dylan Duan in Shanghai; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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