Beijing, Sep 15: Typhoon Meranti, stated to be the world’s strongest typhoon so far this year, made landfall in east China’s Fujian Province early on Thursday, causing widespread destruction. The typhoon that hit Xiang’an district of Xiamen city, has also been monitored as the strongest one hitting southern Fujian Province since 1949.

Strong winds shattered windows on the highrises even as tap water supply was disrupted following the typhoon in many communities in Xiamen. The winds and rain got extremely loud after 3am. The cracking sound of windows and tree branches were also scary.

The power went out in the shop several times,Su Binglin, a night-shift shop assistant at a 24-hour convenient store told state-run Xinhua news agency. He said he had to use a metal plate to strengthen the shop door to prevent it from shattering. He also used boxes filled with mineral water to consolidate the plate.

At around 6am, the winds abated. Streets in Xiamen are scattered with glass shards, broken tree branches and blown down billboards. It is so wretched. Many trees by road sides are fallen, and there are also blocking traffic,Hu Rong, a delivery man said.

The Xiamen Power Supply company said the typhoon has caused severe damages to the power grid in Xiamen, leading to mass blackout. The electricity supply was also disrupted in Xiamen’s outlying islands and with the typhoon further moving inland, more power outages are likely.

The typhoon hit during a three-day public holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival. Schools and kindergartens in coastal cities of Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian in Fujian were closed yesterday as a precaution. The railway authorities in Nanchang, east China’s Jiangxi province, had yesterday announced cancellation of 144 trains till Saturday to southern and eastern cities in an emergent response to the typhoon.

Super Typhoon Meranti Hits Hard Taiwan En Route To China

Much of Taiwan was plunged into chaos on Wednesday and the Chinese coast is on red alert as Super Typhoon Meranti barrels its way through the western Pacific.

More than half a million homes lost power across Taiwan and at least five people were been injured as Meranti, believed to be the world’s strongest storm this year, hit the island.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau warned that the Category 5 storm threatened several southern and eastern cities, including Kaohsiung and Hualien, with strong winds, torrential rain and flooding.

Meranti, which grew in strength the closer it got to Taiwan, was carrying maximum winds of around 220 km per hour as it clipped the south of the island, the weather bureau said.

“This typhoon is the world’s strongest so far this year,” weather bureau spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-yun said.