Typhoon Meranti made landfall inXiang'an district of Xiamen City, east China's Fujian Province, at3:05 a.m. Thursday, with gales up to 48 meters per second.
The world's strongest typhoon so far this year has also beenmonitored as the strongest one hitting southern Fujian Provincesince the local meteorological records were kept in 1949.
The winds shattered windows on high buildings, causingdisruption of tap water supplies in many communities in Xiamen.
"The winds and rain got extremely loud after 3 a.m. The crackingsound of windows and tree branches were also scary. The power wentout in the shop for several times," said Su Binglin, a night-shiftshop assistant at a 24-hour convenient store.
He said he had to use a metal plate to strengthen the shop doorto prevent it from shattering. He also used boxes filled withmineral water to consolidate the plate.
At around 6 a.m., the winds abated. Streets in Xiamen arescattered with glass shards, broken tree branches and blown downbillboards.
"It is so wretched. Many trees by road sides are fallen, andthere are also pondings blocking traffic," said Hu Rong, a deliveryman.
The Xiamen Power Supply Co. said that the typhoon has madesevere damages to the power grid in Xiamen, causing mass blackout.The electricity supply was also disrupted in Xiamen's outlyingislands. As the typhoon is further plowing inland, more damages ofthe power network are likely.
Thursday coincided with China's Mid-Autumn Festival, which givesa three-day public holiday. Schools and kindergartens in coastalcities of Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian in Fujianwere closed Wednesday in precaution against the typhoon.
The railway authorities in Nanchang, east China's JiangxiProvince, announced Wednesday to cancel 144 trains that had beenscheduled between Wednesday to Saturday to southern and easterncities in an emergent response to the typhoon.
