Typhoon Haima makes landfall in south China

Citizens ride past an uprooted tree in Shantou City, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 21, 2016. Typhoon Haima, the 22nd typhoon of the year, made landfall in south China's Guangdong Province at the noon of Friday. The tropical cyclone, packing maximum winds of 150 to 166 kilometers per hour, landed at the coastal area of Houmen township in Haifeng county of Shanwei city at 12:40 p.m. according to local meteorological bureau. (Xinhua/Yao Jun)

GUANGZHOU, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Haima, the 22nd typhoon of the year, made landfall in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday at noon.

The tropical cyclone, packing maximum winds of up to 151 km per hour at its center, landed in coastal Houmen Township in Haifeng County of Shanwei City at 12:40 p.m., according to the local meteorological bureau.

Rainstorms are forecast to batter Shenzhen, Huizhou, Shanwei, Meizhou, Heyuan, Shantou, Jieyang and Chaozhou cities in Guangdong from Friday noon to Saturday morning, said the provincial meteorological station.

Shenzhen closed offices, businesses and schools on Friday as the city activated its highest-level emergency measures in response to Haima.

Nearly 80,000 people in Shenzhen have been evacuated, said the city's civil affairs bureau.

Schools in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Huizhou were also closed on Friday.

As of 11 a.m. Friday, China Southern Airlines said it had canceled 85 flights, including 50 in Shenzhen, ten in Hong Kong, 15 in Jieyang and 10 in Zhuhai, due to Haima.

More than 30 flights between the northeastern city of Shenyang and cities such as Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong were canceled on Friday, said the Shenyang Taoxian International Airport.

Some 104 high-speed trains that pass through Changsha, capital of the central province of Hunan, were suspended on Friday.

The Guangdong flood control headquarters warned of high risk of geological disasters possibly triggered by heavy rainfall brought by Haima. The typhoon's strength is similar to that of typhoon Usagi, which killed scores of people in the province in 2013.

After landing, Haima weakened into a severe tropical storm on Friday afternoon, according to the National Meteorological Center.