Rescue personnel use boats to evacuate residents to safety after flooding hit a town in Ningming county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on August 23, 2026, following the impact of a typhoon. Photo: VCG

China's National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief and the Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level-IV national disaster relief emergency response for South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday after Typhoon Narra, the 19th typhoon of this year, caused severe flooding in the region that led to passenger train suspensions. A working group was sent to the affected areas to assess damage and assist with evacuations, resettlement and basic relief efforts, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday. 

The China Meteorological Administration raised its emergency response for major weather disasters, including typhoons, torrential rain and severe convective weather, to Level III at 11:50 am on Monday. 

China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) continued to issue a yellow alert for rainstorm and a blue alert for typhoon at 6 am on Monday, forecasting torrential rainfall in parts of coastal regions as well as Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces. The rainfall on Taiwan Island is forecast to reach 250 to 300 millimeters between Monday morning and Tuesday morning, CCTV reported. 

Typhoon Narra was located over the Beibu Gulf about 185 kilometers west-southwest of Beihai, Guangxi, at 5 am on Monday, with maximum winds of 23 meters per second near its center. 

It is expected to linger over the Beibu Gulf and strengthen to severe tropical storm, with winds of up to 25 to 28 meters per second. From Monday night, it will turn northward and move at 5 to 10 kilometers per hour toward the coast from Guangxi to western Leizhou Peninsula in South China's Guangdong Province.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Atsani, the year's 21st typhoon, formed Monday morning. Its center was located about 1,970 kilometers east-southeast of Taipei of the Taiwan Island at 8 am, and is expected to move north-northeast at 15 to 20 kilometers per hour, with little change in its strength, CCTV reported. 

Rescue personnel use boats to evacuate residents to safety after flooding hit a county in Fangchenggang city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on August 23, 2026, following the impact of a typhoon. Photo: VCG

Due to the impact of Typhoon Narra, Ningming county in Guangxi is forecast to see moderate to heavy rain and locally torrential rain from Wednesday to Thursday. In response to typhoon, heavy rainfall and flood warnings, multiple passenger train services have been suspended from Sunday to Thursday, according to CCTV. 

According to Zhang Ling, a chief weather forecaster at the NMC, Typhoon Narra remains stalled over the Beibu Gulf as several surrounding weather systems compete to steer the storm, with none dominant. Meanwhile, warm waters and abundant monsoon moisture are helping Typhoon Narra persist, bringing prolonged rain and strong winds to southern China's coast, the Beibu Gulf and the northern South China Sea. 

Rescue personnel use boats to evacuate residents to safety after flooding hit a county in Fangchenggang city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on August 23, 2026, following the impact of a typhoon. Photo: VCG

On Saturday, Fangchenggang in Guangxi recorded a maximum accumulated rainfall of 404.9 millimeters. As more rain is expected in Guangxi and other areas, attention should be paid to the cumulative effects of prolonged rainfall, with southern Guangxi facing heightened risks from heavy cumulative rainfall and intense short-duration downpours, Zhang told the Global Times on Monday. 

According to Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, 21 typhoons have formed over the western North Pacific and South China Sea this year, nine more than the historical average for the same period. 

The surge in activity is closely related to the current super El Nino conditions. During an El Nino event, hurricane activity in the Atlantic tends to be suppressed, resulting in fewer storms, while typhoon activity in the western Pacific tends to increase. The number of typhoons formed so far this year is consistent with the typical pattern of typhoon activity during an El Nino year, Ma told the Global Times on Monday.