Photo: National Meteorological Center (NMC)

Typhoon Matmo was upgraded from a typhoon to a severe typhoon at 5 am on Sunday. It is expected that Typhoon Matmo will move northwestward at a speed of 20 to 25 kilometers per hour, and its intensity will increase. 

It will make landfall on the coast from Wuchuan, Guangdong Province, to Wenchang, Hainan Province, around noon on Sunday, and its intensity will gradually weaken after landing, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC), China's national observatory. Airports in Guangdong including the Zhanjiang Wuchuan International Airport, suspended all inbound and outbound flights.

Typhoon Matmo will affect Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other provinces from east to west from Saturday to Tuesday. The wind will be strong when it lands, and the wind and rain will affect a wide range, with local heavy rainfall being extreme, according to the forecast of NMC.

As of 8:47 am, Matmo is approximately 160 kilometers east of Xuwen county, Guangdong Province, according to CCTV news. The Guangdong Provincial Flood Control Headquarters upgraded the emergency response from Level II to Level I at 8:00 am on Sunday. Residents are alerted to be vigilant. 

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters maintain a Level 4 emergency response for flood and typhoon prevention in Guangdong, Hainan, and Guangxi. 

Affected by the outer circulation of Typhoon Matmo, the gusts in the waters of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge reached level 8. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Maritime Safety Administration implemented temporary traffic control on the bridge channel at 10:20 pm on Saturday, prohibiting all ships from passing through the bridge channel.

Due to Typhoon Matmo, the Traffic Management Bureau of the Public Security Department of Hainan Province has taken proactive defense and control measures and decided to implement temporary full-width traffic closure control on the Nandujiang Bridge of the S82 Airport Link Line and the Haiwen Bridge of the S206 Puwen Line. Vehicles passing through are requested to detour.

Starting 3 am on Sunday, Zhanjiang implemented traffic control measures on the Zhanjiang Bay Bridge, Donghai Island Bridge, Tiaoshun Cross-sea Bridge, and Nansan Bridge, temporarily closing traffic. The specific implementation time will be determined based on the development of the typhoon.

Under the influence of Typhoon Matmo, the Macao Special Administration Region (SAR) government's Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau issued a No. 8 Gale Signal at 2:00 am on Sunday. Following the issuance of the No. 8 Signal, the Macao Civil Defense Operations Center announced that the Macao SAR had entered an immediate precautionary state.

Global Times