GUANGZHOU -- Tapah, the 16th typhoon of this year, made landfall in South China's Guangdong province on Monday morning, forcing school closures and the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

The typhoon, with maximum winds of up to 30 meters per second near its center, churned ashore in Taishan, a county-level city in Jiangmen city, at around 8:50 am, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.

Classes were suspended for about 120,000 students at 182 schools and kindergartens in Taishan, while more than 41,000 people across Jiangmen were evacuated to safer areas.

Jiangmen's maritime bureau said it had deployed in advance 43 volunteer sea rescue teams and 30 vessels to handle possible emergencies. More than 3,300 emergency personnel are on standby in Taishan.

In neighboring Yangjiang city, authorities opened emergency shelters on Monday for local residents.

Affected by the typhoon, parts of Guangdong saw heavy rain and strong winds on Monday. Meteorological authorities forecast that Tapah will continue moving northwest at about 20 km per hour and gradually weaken.