Typhoon Wutip, the first typhoon to strike China's coast this year, unleashed heavy downpours and strong gales across southern regions on Friday, leading to mass evacuations, transport cancellations, and the widespread closures of schools and businesses.

The storm continued moving parallel to the western coastline of Hainan province on Friday, but the local meteorological service predicted it would stay offshore without making landfall. It is tracking northwest toward the Leizhou Peninsula.

In preparation, authorities in Ledong Li autonomous county in the southwest of Hainan had relocated 1,325 people to safety by 9 am on Friday, with free temporary shelters established for pregnant women in mountainous and coastal areas.

Sixteen cities and counties suspended classes, with schools in the resort city of Sanya dismissing students in phases. Those unable to leave were placed under supervision with provisions.

Sanya escalated its emergency response to a Level II on Thursday evening — the second-highest tier in a four-tier system — closing tourist sites, shopping malls and restaurants, halting work at construction sites but keeping supermarkets and markets open for essentials.

At the Luhuitou scenic area, crews reinforced trees, cleared drains, and prepared sandbags. "We've deployed a 20-member emergency team to handle hazards," said the area's assistant general manager Li Fengfa.

Tourists also scrambled to adjust their plans accordingly. "We arrived on Wednesday and didn't expect a typhoon," said Ye Haiming from Chengdu, Sichuan province, who is now sheltering indoors.

Ji Jiaqiong, a Hainan native, added, "We stocked food and water for three days' use after hearing the warnings."

The storm's fury was unmistakable along Sanya's coast, where tourist Wang Xin from Changsha, Hunan province, saw around four-meter waves pummeling the Yazhou Bay. "Winds uprooted trees and shredded branches," he said.

By Friday morning, 698 trees had fallen citywide, with crews replanting 187 of them.

Transport networks buckled in the provincial capital Haikou. The Haikou Meilan International Airport canceled 139 flights, and all ferry crossings through the Qiongzhou Strait have been suspended since Thursday, stranding 1,200 trucks near ports.

The storm is expected to hit the coastal areas between Xuwen county, Zhanjiang city in Guangdong province and Beihai city in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region around noon on Saturday as a severe tropical storm before weakening and shifting northeastward.

Neighboring Guangdong braced for potential impacts by upgrading its emergency response on Friday morning. To the west, Beihai city in Guangxi has also activated its own alert on Friday, suspending schools as a precaution.