Typhoon Narra, the 19th typhoon of 2026, weakened into a tropical depression after making multiple landfalls in South China's Guangdong Province on Wednesday, but meteorological experts warned that weakening winds do not mean the danger has passed, as its residual circulation is expected to join forces with powerful Typhoon Saudel to bring successive rounds of torrential rainfall to southern and eastern China.

Narra's remnant tropical depression made another landfall along the coast of Wuchuan, Guangdong Province, at around 11 am on Wednesday, with maximum winds near its center reaching 12 meters per second, or Force 6, and a minimum central pressure of 1,000 hectopascals. After landfall, the system was expected to continue moving northward and weaken rapidly.

Despite Narra's weakening intensity, the rainfall threat associated with the system remains, Zhao Wei, director of the typhoon and marine weather forecasting center of the National Meteorological Center (NMC), told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"A weakening typhoon does not mean the rain has stopped," Zhao said, noting that Narra's residual circulation will continue to affect South China and warning the public against lowering their guard.

The NMC continued to issue an orange alert for typhoons and a yellow alert for rainstorms on Wednesday as the two tropical systems continued to affect large parts of southern and eastern China. Its Wednesday morning weather bulletin warned that Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, among other regions, would experience strong rainfall over the next three days under the influence of Narra and Saudel.

From the current atmospheric circulation pattern, most parts of central and eastern China are under the influence of the subtropical high-pressure system, with two major rain belts forming to its north and south, Zhao explained.

On the northern flank of the subtropical high, an eastward-moving upper-level trough is producing shear-induced convective rainfall in parts of North China and Northwest China. To its south, Narra and Saudel are expected to bring stronger rainfall to regions including South China and areas south of the Yangtze River.

Attention is now increasingly turning to Saudel, the 18th typhoon of the year, which moved into the East China Sea early Wednesday.

According to the latest information released by Fujian's provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters at noon Wednesday, Saudel is expected to make landfall along the coast between Lianjiang in Fujian Province and Xiangshan in Zhejiang Province from Thursday night to Friday morning, and the headquarters maintained a Level III emergency response for typhoons and a Level IV response for flood control on Wednesday, while urging vessels operating in affected waters to return to harbor or steer clear of the typhoon's impact zone.

According to the Beijing Daily on Wednesday, with Typhoon Gaenari and Narra having already made landfall in China and Saudel expected to make landfall soon, three typhoons will have made landfall in China this week. As a result, the number of typhoons that have made landfall in China so far this year will reach eight.

In response to changes in the path of Saudel and its subsequent impacts, authority has activated a typhoon and flood-prevention emergency response. It plans to temporarily suspend some trains running through certain regions and provinces of Yangtze River Delta, including suspension of rail way services in Zhejiang from Thursday to Saturday, according to China News Service.

Fujian maritime authorities have rolled out a series of measures targeting passenger routes and offshore construction. As of noon Tuesday, 22 coastal passenger ferry routes had been suspended and 44 passenger vessels had stopped operating, while 41 offshore construction projects had halted work and 116 construction vessels had been evacuated. Towing, sea trials, scientific research and offshore wind-power maintenance activities along the Fujian coast had also been suspended.

About 180 A-level scenic areas had also been shut as of Tuesday in Fujian, according to the Fujian provincial government.

In Lianjiang, Fuzhou, 10,887 township vessels and 368 fishing boats required to take shelter had all returned to harbor as of 4:30 pm Tuesday, while 1,350 workers on coastal aquaculture rafts and deep-sea farming platforms had been safely brought ashore.

Local authorities said they had inspected 34 urban waterlogging risk points and cleared more than 5,500 storm-drain inlets, while personnel and drainage facilities were positioned in advance to deal with possible heavy rainfall.

The preparations come as Narra has already triggered flooding in parts of South China.

In South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 14 rivers at 20 hydrological stations rose above warning levels between 8 am Sunday and 8 am Monday under the impact of Narra. As of 8 am Monday, 15 hydrological stations on 11 rivers remained above warning levels, according to Guangxi water authorities.

While authorities race to reduce the impact on land and at sea, Saudel itself displays an unusual structure. One particularly striking feature is its large eye and double-eyewall structure, Zhao noted. The greater concern for the coming days is the successive impact of Narra and Saudel and the possibility that their rainfall effects will overlap.

Accumulated rainfall in southeastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian could reach 200 to 400 millimeters, with localized totals exceeding 500 millimeters, according to the official forecast, per NMC.

Zhao warned areas affected successively by the two systems to remain highly alert to overlapping rainfall and the risk of secondary disasters caused by persistent heavy rain.

"Successive typhoons are affecting southeastern and southern provinces, so particular vigilance is needed against overlapping rainfall and their subsequent impact farther inland," Zhao said.