Meranti, the 10th typhoon to hit China this year, made landfall at Shishi city in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian at 3:30 a.m. Friday, packing winds of up to 35 meters per second at its center, according to provincial flood control authorities.

A total of 145,300 people in Fujian were evacuated to avoid rain- and wind-triggered accidents.

About 33,200 fishing boats returned to port before 8:00 p.m. Thursday to take refuge from the typhoon.

Meranti has brought up to 88 mm of rain to Shishi of Fujian's Quanzhou, according to a written statement released by the city's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

More than 100 hectares of crops were submerged, and the direct economic losses have reached 15.35 million yuan (2.27 million U.S. dollars), the statement said.

In Shishi's neighboring Jinjiang city, more than 100 power supply lines have been cut off. More than 650 workers in 53 teams have been organized for the repair work, and they are expected to restore power by Friday night, said Su Tianxing, chief safety director of Jinjiang Branch of State Grid Corporation.

Rainstorms were also seen in the cities of Putian, Fuzhou and Ningde Friday.

The typhoon has brought heavy rains and strong winds to neighboring Zhejiang Province, too. It is expected to cross into Zhejiang Province Friday afternoon.

Meranti weakened to tropical storm at 2 p.m., with a wind speed of up to 23 meters per second, Zhejiang meteorological authorities said.

It will move northwestward at a speed of 20 km per hour, which may create unusually high tides.

The storm is also forecast to bring rains to Anhui Province from Saturday and threaten more than 5 million mu (about 333,333 hectare) of crops.

The National Meteorological Center said in a statement the storm will furhter bring strong winds and torrential rains to parts of southern China until late Friday night.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments