As dawn broke on September 8, 2025, southern China braced itself for the full force of Tropical Storm Tapah, a tempest that would upend daily life for millions across Guangdong province and beyond. The storm, packing sustained winds of more than 100 kilometers per hour and gusts reaching up to 150 km/h, made landfall near Taishan city at 8:50 am local time, according to state broadcaster CCTV and the Hong Kong Observatory. With the typhoon season in full swing, Tapah’s arrival was a sobering reminder of nature’s power—and the region’s vulnerability.
Authorities moved swiftly as Tapah approached. By Sunday afternoon, over 60,000 people had been evacuated from coastal and low-lying areas across Guangdong, as reported by Xinhua and The Watchers. Emergency shelters sprang up overnight, offering refuge to several hundred residents who had nowhere else to turn. In Jiangmen alone, an estimated 41,000 people were relocated, while 3,300 emergency personnel stood ready in Taishan to respond to any crisis. The southern cities of Jiangmen, Maoming, and Zhuhai raised typhoon warnings and shuttered schools, underscoring the breadth of the storm’s impact.
Public life ground to a halt in anticipation of the onslaught. The Guangdong Meteorological Bureau raised a yellow alert—the third highest in China’s four-tier warning system—forecasting thunderstorms and gale-force winds. The province’s Emergency Management Department ordered the suspension of all outdoor activities, closing parks, beaches, and recreational areas. Schools across the region were closed, including in neighboring Shenzhen, where local officials also cautioned residents to stay indoors.
Hong Kong, just across the border and itself a major economic hub, felt Tapah’s effects keenly. The Hong Kong Observatory issued its No. 8 storm signal late on September 7, the city’s third-highest warning, and kept it in force into Monday morning. This move forced the closure of day schools and the suspension or adjustment of ferry services and many bus routes. The city’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) operated on a reduced schedule, and most businesses remained shut for the day, according to China Daily and The New York Times.
Air travel was particularly hard hit. Nearly 100 flights were canceled at Hong Kong International Airport, leaving travelers stranded and slumped in terminal chairs, anxiously awaiting updates. The airport recorded wind speeds of 101 km/h, with gusts up to 151 km/h. In a dramatic incident, an HK Express flight arriving from Beijing veered onto the grass during landing. Police noted that smoke was briefly observed from its landing gear, but—fortunately—no injuries were reported. The cause of the mishap remained under investigation, with authorities not yet certain whether Tapah’s fierce winds played a role.
Elsewhere, the storm’s fury was felt in subtler ways. The government in Hong Kong received more than 160 reports of fallen trees and three flooding cases, while at least twelve people were injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Several hundred people sought refuge in temporary shelters, and court hearings were suspended due to the hazardous weather. Streets were mostly deserted except for scattered debris, and although no major flooding or landslides were reported in Hong Kong, emergency services stayed on high alert—an understandable precaution given the city’s history of slope failures during heavy rain.
Macao, the neighboring casino hub, was not spared either. Local broadcaster TVB reported minor flooding in low-lying districts, while authorities ordered the closure of schools, public transport, and taxis. Flights in and out of Macao were disrupted, and contingency notices were issued as the system skirted nearby. In the neighboring city of Yangjiang, just west of Hong Kong, authorities evacuated 1,785 workers from 26 offshore wind platforms and 2,026 people from fish farms as a precaution, demonstrating the storm’s reach well beyond urban centers.
As Tapah moved inland, its power began to wane, but not before leaving behind a trail of disruption. The storm tracked northwest toward Wuzhou city in Guangxi, with provincial flood control offices and the National Meteorological Center warning of continued heavy rain and an elevated risk of flash flooding and landslides. Some forecasts called for cumulative rainfall totals of 250 to 400 millimeters (10 to 16 inches) in affected areas—enough to swell rivers already burdened by weeks of summer rain.
Emergency response teams were deployed to reinforce reservoirs, power facilities, and other vulnerable infrastructure. Engineers fanned out across Guangdong to secure critical installations, mindful that rivers swollen by the relentless downpours of summer could worsen flooding in the days to come. Coastal cities suspended port operations and kept emergency crews on standby to monitor water levels and respond to any breaches.
Despite the scale of the disruption—dozens of tourist sites closed, hundreds of flights grounded, and public transport widely suspended—early reports suggested that the region had avoided the worst-case scenario. According to The New York Times, flash flooding from tropical storms can occur well inland, far from the center of circulation, making vigilance essential even after the winds die down. The storm passed about 170 km southwest of Hong Kong at its closest, lashing the city with rain bands and strong winds that flipped umbrellas and rattled scaffolding but left most of the financial hub’s infrastructure intact.
Typhoon season in East Asia typically runs from July through December, with powerful cyclones regularly striking the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, China, and Vietnam. Tapah is the latest in a series of storms to batter the region in 2025; Guangdong alone has been hit by sixteen typhoons this year, a testament to the increasing volatility of weather patterns in the era of climate change. The South China Sea and western Pacific, warmed by summer heat, have become breeding grounds for ever-stronger storms—each one a test of the resilience and preparedness of the communities that lie in their path.
As Tapah’s rains tapered off and the skies began to clear, life in southern China and neighboring territories slowly edged back toward normalcy. But for the tens of thousands who spent the night in shelters, the hundreds of workers evacuated from offshore platforms, and the families who watched as their daily routines were upended, the storm was a stark reminder: in this part of the world, nature’s power is never far away, and preparation is the best defense.
