Mainland braces for Podul's 2nd landfall

In Fujian, some passenger trains bound for Shaanxi province and Chongqing were suspended on Wednesday.

In response to the impact of the typhoon and severe convective weather, the railway group upgraded the typhoon warning level for several lines running through Fujian from Level IV to Level III on Wednesday.

With wind speeds of 90 to 118.8 km/h after its second landfall, Podul is expected to continue moving northwest into inland areas, passing through several provincial-level regions including Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bringing widespread heavy to torrential rain, according to the NMC.

Due to Podul's asymmetrical structure with stronger convection on its southern side, southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong are expected to experience particularly significant heavy rainfall, according to NMC.

Lyu Xinyan, chief forecaster at the NMC, highlighted the potential for compounding effects due to recent frequent rainfall in southern China.

"We should pay particular attention to the cumulative effects of Podul's heavy rainfall and previous rainstorms, which could easily trigger mountain torrents, mudslides, flash floods in small and medium-sized rivers, and urban and rural flooding," she said.