Typhoon Noul—known locally as Hongxia—swept across the northern South China Sea on Saturday, forcing Guangdong and neighbouring provinces into emergency mode and triggering the largest transport shutdown since Typhoon Saola in 2023. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management reported that more than 340,000 residents had been moved from coastal counties by Saturday evening, while all passenger ferries, most regional rail services and hundreds of flights were cancelled. At Hong Kong International Airport the storm pushed the cross-wind component beyond aircraft limits, compelling airlines to cancel or divert over 150 flights. Cathay Pacific alone scrubbed all departures between 01:15 and 18:00 Sunday, while Air China and China Southern rerouted long-haul services to Shenzhen and Xiamen. Mainland airports in Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou activated level-II typhoon response plans, closing runways in waves from 18:00 Saturday. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) invoked its irregular-operations policy, granting carriers automatic slots to operate make-up flights within 72 hours and waiving air-traffic fees. Logistics providers including DHL and FedEx suspended south-China overnight freighter runs, warning clients of one-to-three-day backlog. Cross-border trucking via the Humen and Shenzhen Bay bridges stopped at midnight, severing a key just-in-time supply artery for the electronics sector. Rail operators reduced service on the coastal Fuzhou–Shenzhen high-speed line and closed the Meizhou branch entirely. China State Railway Group said some trains would terminate at Guangzhou South instead of Hong Kong West Kowloon until at least Monday afternoon, adding that travellers could refund tickets on the 12306 app without penalty. Border checkpoints at Shenzhen’s Shekou ferry terminal and the HZMB suspended passenger processing, although land crossings at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau remained open on a skeleton schedule. For global mobility teams the immediate priority is locating travellers in the Pearl River Delta and securing alternative routings via inland hubs such as Changsha or Wuhan. Employers with assignees in coastal industrial parks should review evacuation and business-continuity plans, particularly around power-supply interruptions that often follow storm surges. Insurers reminded policy holders that travel-delay benefits typically require written confirmation of cancellation from the carrier—documentation that may take airlines several days to issue given the scale of disruption.
