HONG KONG - Typhoon Noul will dump heavy to torrential rain across much of southern China for two days after sweeping the province of Guangdong and neighbouring Hong Kong with gale-force winds, following landfall on Sunday, forecasters said.
China declared its highest alert for flash floods in several provinces as the year's strongest typhoon forced the relocation of more than 700,000 people in Guangdong.
The year's 12th tropical cyclone and China's third this month, Noul, which means the glow of sunrise or sunset in Korean, struck the coast of Huidong county at about 3.50am, provincial officials said.
It was expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to nearby provinces such as Jiangxi and Hunan as it moves inland, state broadcaster CCTV said, with the rains likely to persist until Tuesday.
Extremely heavy to exceptional downpours are expected to lash some areas including the province of Fujian, as the National Meteorological Centre forecast heavy to torrential rain from Sunday until Monday morning across much of China's south.
The typhoon is weakening as it moves inland, Hong Kong's Observatory said, though southwesterly gales pounded parts of the Asian financial hub, where authorities downgraded the typhoon signal from 8 to 3 by afternoon.
Overnight, the storm had passed within 80km of Hong Kong.Hong Kong airport authorities said flights would gradually resume on Sunday afternoon after a 12-hour disruption.
