Mainland braces for Podul's 2nd landfall

As Typhoon Podul is poised to make its second landfall along the coastal areas between Guangdong and Fujian provinces, transportation — particularly train services in the two provinces — was significantly affected on Wednesday.

Podul, the 11th typhoon of the year and classified as a severe storm, made its initial landfall along the coast of Taitung, Taiwan, at around 1 pm on Wednesday, with maximum wind speeds near the center reaching 151.2 kilometers per hour, according to the National Meteorological Center.

After entering the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday afternoon, the typhoon was expected to make a second landfall along the coast between Xiamen in Fujian and Shantou in Guangdong, between Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning, the NMC reported.

In response to the severe weather, China Railway Guangzhou Group has assessed risks and adjusted transportation schedules on several routes. As of Wednesday, high-speed train services were suspended on routes connecting Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, with train services on the affected railway lines expected to resume after Thursday, depending on weather conditions. Additionally, some trains on the Beijing-Guangzhou and Beijing-Kowloon (Hong Kong) railway lines were suspended on Wednesday.

In Shantou, the Nan'ao Bridge, a major cross-sea project, was closed to traffic at 8 pm on Wednesday for safety reasons. Strong winds were detected at the bridge's automatic weather observation station on Wednesday morning, with their intensity increasing throughout the day, according to local meteorological authorities.

In Chaozhou, which neighbors Shantou, all primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, day care centers and training institutions suspended classes on Wednesday.

On the maritime front, all fishing boats in areas east of Shanwei, a seaside city in Guangdong, were required to return to port by 8 pm on Tuesday, and recreational boats were prohibited from going out to sea, according to the provincial headquarters for flood, drought and wind control.

In Fujian, some passenger trains bound for Shaanxi province and Chongqing were suspended on Wednesday.

In response to the impact of the typhoon and severe convective weather, the railway group upgraded the typhoon warning level for several lines running through Fujian from Level IV to Level III on Wednesday.

With wind speeds of 90 to 118.8 km/h after its second landfall, Podul is expected to continue moving northwest into inland areas, passing through several provincial-level regions including Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bringing widespread heavy to torrential rain, according to the NMC.

Due to Podul's asymmetrical structure with stronger convection on its southern side, southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong are expected to experience particularly significant heavy rainfall, according to NMC.

Lyu Xinyan, chief forecaster at the NMC, highlighted the potential for compounding effects due to recent frequent rainfall in southern China.

"We should pay particular attention to the cumulative effects of Podul's heavy rainfall and previous rainstorms, which could easily trigger mountain torrents, mudslides, flash floods in small and medium-sized rivers, and urban and rural flooding," she said.