Hainan has upgraded its typhoon emergency response from Level IV to Level III.

According to monitoring by the meteorological department in Hainan, at 9 am this morning, the center of Typhoon "Wipha" was located in the northeastern part of the South China Sea, about 850 kilometers east-southeast of Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province. It is expected to move in a westward direction at a speed of 20-25 kilometers per hour, with its intensity gradually increasing, reaching typhoon or strong typhoon level. The center of the typhoon is expected to move into the northern part of the South China Sea in the early hours of the 19th, heading towards the eastern coast of Guangdong and Hainan Island. In order to effectively respond to the potential serious impacts of Typhoon "Wipha", the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration has raised the emergency response level from level IV to level III at 10 am on the 19th. The Qiongzhou Strait passenger ships are planned to stop operating at 21:30 on the 19th, and nearshore yachts will stop activities at 18:00 on the 19th. At present, the maritime department in Hainan has organized the evacuation of 97 researchers from 18 research vessels, evacuated more than 1200 people from 44 offshore platforms, suspended work on 23 coastal hydraulic projects, organized the evacuation of 130 people from 69 construction vessels, and the remaining 296 evacuees will be fully evacuated by 18:00 today. The maritime department has also coordinated 40 emergency ships and 2 professional rescue helicopters to be on standby, strictly implemented leadership and 24-hour emergency duty systems, and made preparations for emergencies.