Rain brought by Typhoon Tapah sweeps across Tangjiawan in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, on September 7, 2025. Photo: IC

As Typhoon Tapah, the 16th typhoon of the year, made landfall in South China's Guangdong Province on Monday morning, bringing gale force winds and heavy rains across wide coastal areas, including Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs), with schools and transportation suspended.

Tapah made landfall in Taishan, Guangdong Province around 8:50 am on Monday with the maximum wind speed near its center reaching 30 meters per second, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.

Gale-force winds battered Hong Kong on Monday morning with Tapah centered around 170 kilometers west-southwest of the city as of 8 am, local media outlets reported on Monday. 

Air traffic in the city was disrupted, with several airlines announcing the cancellation of flights, according to the report.

Macao's Civil Protection Operations Centre of the Unitary Police Service announced that the city entered a preventive stage at 9 pm on Sunday to ensure the safety of residents' lives and property, with four shelters opened, according to CCTV.

All primary, secondary, kindergarten, and special education schools were closed for the entire day Monday.

During the No.8 signal, buses, taxis, light rail, and ferry services in Macao were suspended. The Macao Civil Aviation Authority stated that, as of Sunday night, 51 flights to and from Macao had been delayed, rescheduled, or canceled.

China's Ministry of Water Resources on Monday maintained a Level IV emergency response for flood control in Guangdong and Guangxi, with two working groups on the front-line providing assistance and guidance for heavy rain and flood prevention.

Under the influence of Tapah, Guangdong's meteorological department reported that 55 towns and subdistricts recorded torrential rain over 100 millimeters during the period. As of 9:20 am on Monday, 71 typhoon warning signals remained in effect across the province, chinanews.com reported.

Guangdong's maritime authorities have raised the typhoon emergency response in their jurisdiction to Level I. Across the province, 240 water-related projects were suspended, 391 construction vessels have ceased operations, and all 154 passenger ferry routes have been halted, CCTV reported on Monday. 

The Water Resources Department of Guangdong Province has dispatched four working groups to the front line, pre-positioned 78 emergency rescue teams with more than 2,100 personnel, and stockpiled emergency supplies to prepare for disaster response and rescue.

In response to the typhoon, multiple cities in Guangdong including Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Yangjiang and Maoming suspended classes and closed schools starting Sunday or Monday.

In terms of transportation, two railway lines, Shenzhen to Zhanjiang Railway line and Guangzhou to Maoming Railway line, suspended service on Monday, with operations scheduled to resume Tuesday.

To cope with the impact of the typhoon, the maritime department in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region deployed 14 maritime patrol vessels, 44 port tugboats in coastal areas on emergency standby, and coordinated with the Nanhai Rescue Bureau to station three specialized rescue vessels at key coastal points on Monday morning, according to CCTV. 

Global Times