South China provinces activate Level-IV emergency typhoon response

China's southern provinces of Hainan and Guangdong activated a Level-IV emergency typhoon response on Friday as Typhoon Matmo – the 21st named storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season – approaches.

Read more: Explainer: China's 4-tier emergency response system

The Guangdong meteorological observatory has forecast that the typhoon will enter the South China Sea on Friday evening, making landfall in the daytime on Sunday along the coast between western Guangdong and eastern Hainan Island.

It is forecast to pack winds of 42 to 48 meters per second, which would categorize it as a severe typhoon, according to the Hainan Meteorological Service.

As Matmo is forecast to influence Hainan from Saturday night to Sunday, a peak travel time during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, authorities have called for strengthened safety measures at coastal, water-based and mountain tourism sites across Hainan.

Major flight routes, ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait and high-speed rail operations are likely to be affected from Saturday night through Sunday, with normal services expected to resume by Monday morning.

In Guangdong Province, the typhoon is forecast to bring severe downpours to coastal cities and counties west of the Pearl River Estuary from Saturday night to Sunday night. Authorities have taken proactive measures to enhance forecasts, issue timely warnings, implement disaster prevention measures, and relocate residents in vulnerable areas.