Typhoon Ewininar brings torrential downpours to south China

The fourth typhoon of this year, Ewiniar, made landfall at Xinliao Town in south China's Guangdong Province at around06:25and swept across the Leizhou Peninsula afterwards.

After making landfall, the strong typhoon moved across the Leizhou Peninsula at a speed of five kilometres per hour and had a prolonged impact on Zhanjiang, a city in Guangdong Province, which was battered by rain from Tuesdayevening on.

"This round of rainfall has almost ended the drought. As the rainfall was relatively concentrated, some areas saw temporary flooding. And fighting the drought has been replaced by fighting floods," said Ning Bopeng, the director from the office of drought relief, flood control and typhoon prevention of Zhanjiang City.

Typhoon Ewiniar is moving north at 10 kilometres per hour and is expected to hit Guangdong again lateron Thursday, according to the Guangdong Meteorology Observatory.

Local authorities have asked the owners of over 10,000 fishing boats to either stay in the harbour or take shelter. They also closed 12 tourist destinations.

The city has opened 442 shelters and relocated more than 10,000 residents.

The torrential rain brought by Typhoon Ewiniar already caused widespread flooding in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province.

The rainfall in the city from20:00Wednesdayto10:00Thursdaysurpassed 100 millimetres, according to data collected from more than 20 stations in the city.

Five districts in the city issued a yellow alert, the third highest of China's four-tier warning system for heavy rain, and seven districts issued an orange alert, the second highest.

With the second landfall of Typhoon Ewiniar eminent, rain is expected to affect the city untilSaturday.