Chinese tourist city Sanya shuts down as Typhoon Kajiki intensifies

BEIJING: The southern Chinese city of Sanya, renowned for seafront resorts and sandy beaches, closed tourist attractions, shuttered businesses and suspended public transport on Sunday (Aug 24) as it braced for an intensifying Typhoon Kajiki.

The tropical cyclone was about 200km southeast of Sanya on the island province of Hainan at 9am, packing maximum sustained wind of 38ms near its centre, the National Meteorological Center said.

Kajiki is likely to strengthen as it moves northwest at approximately 20kmh, with a peak wind speed as fast as 48ms, the state weather forecaster said.

The storm could make landfall along the southern coast of Hainan from Sunday afternoon to evening, or skirt the southern coastline before heading toward Vietnam in the west.

The Meteorological Center forecast heavy rainfall and strong wind in Hainan and nearby Guangdong province and Guangxi region, with areas in Hainan set to receive as much as 400mm of precipitation.

Sanya issued a red typhoon alert on Sunday morning – the highest in China’s colour-coded warning system – and raised its emergency response to the most severe level, showed posts on the local government’s Wechat account.

City officials convened a meeting on Saturday evening, urging preparation for “worst case scenarios” and stressing the need for heightened vigilance to ensure no fatalities and minimal injuries, the government said.