Typhoon Meranti Hits China; 6 Reported Dead, More Missing

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At least six people died and six are missing as Typhoon Meranti, the strongest storm in the world this year, passed through China.

The storm, which earlier killed one person and injured several in Taiwan, claimed three lives and left four people missing in China’s Fujian province as of Thursday afternoon. In Zhejiang three people died and two were missing, according to the province’s civil affairs bureau. The storm was the hardest to hit the southern Fujian province since 1949, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

The typhoon made landfall in Xiamen at 3:05 a.m. local time on Thursday, battering the port city with strong winds and torrential rains. Meranti also affected Jiangsu province. Markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are closed Friday for the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

The typhoon is weakening as of Friday morning, while heavy rains are still expected, according to China Meteorological Administration.

Another storm is heading toward Taiwan. The island issued a land warning as Typhoon Malakas approached, the Central Weather Bureau said in a statement on its website.

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, having passed south of Taiwan on Wednesday, Typhoon Meranti made landfall at 3.05 a.m. local time on Thursday, in the Xiang’an District of Xiamen City, in eastern China’s Fujian Province. Following its interaction with Taiwan, Meranti weakened significantly as it approached China but still came ashore with a central pressure of 940 mb, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane—the strongest typhoon in the region since 1949.

The cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou are experiencing widespread power outages, flooding, disrupted water supplies, and fallen trees, according to AIR Worldwide. Windows on some tall buildings reportedly shattered. A Song dynasty wooden bridge has been washed away in Yongchun County, and three historic bridges, about 800 years old, have been damaged in Quanzhou. Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian, is experiencing particularly severe flooding. Mudslides are likely across the region, AIR said.