Typhoon Wipha started building up over the South China Sea before hitting Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, and making its way towards Vietnam. Video credit: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA

In 2023, a typhoon brought sustained heavy rains to southern China, triggering inundations in Hong Kong and other areas. Deluges around the city of Maoming in Guangdong province caused a lake at a commercial crocodile farm to overflow with over 70 animals escaping, local media reported.

Typhoon Wipha disrupted travel and daily life across Hong Kong and southern China today, grounding over 400 flights and affecting around 80,000 passengers in Hong Kong alone. Hundreds more flights were delayed in nearby cities. High winds toppled trees, injuring 26 people, and… pic.twitter.com/79U0q0vgiy

As of 8 a.m., the center of the year's ninth tropical depression was located southeast of Taiwan and east of the Philippines, moving west-northwest at 20 kph, per CNA. It had maximum sustained winds of 54 kph and gusts up to 92 kph.

Wipha was a tropical storm in the Gulf of Tonkin Monday afternoon China Standard Time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in its latest advisory. Typhoon season is year-round; however, most typhoons form from early July through mid-December.