Shutdowns and evacuations ordered, electricity cut and trail of damage reported from ‘world’s strongest typhoon this year’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Tens of thousands of homes lost power across Taiwan as the island was hit by super-typhoon Meranti – a storm rated the strongest in the world so far this year – forcing schools and businesses to close and leading to flight cancellations.

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

Meranti, which grew in strength as it neared Taiwan, was carrying maximum winds of 134mph (216km/h), meteorologists said. Fallen power cables and trees were among some of the early damage reported on Wednesday.

“This typhoon is the world’s strongest so far this year,” said weather bureau spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-yun. “Its impact on Taiwan will peak all day today.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Composite image of Category 5 super-typhoon Meranti. Photograph: 2016 Eumetsat

Companies and schools in Kaohsiung and other cities were closed and almost 1,500 residents were evacuated, the Central Emergency Operation Centre said.

Nearly 200,000 households were without electricity, according to Taiwan Power. Most domestic flights were cancelled, including all of those from Kaohsiung airport, where international flights were also severely affected.

Taiwan was expected to feel the full force of the typhoon on Wednesday and into Thursday before the storm reached China, meteorologists said.

Meranti was expected to make landfall in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian on Thursday, where authorities were already cancelling train services and preparing to evacuate people, state media said.

In eastern Guangdong province, authorities ordered trawlers to return to harbour and fishermen to shelter on land from Meranti, which the official China News Service said could be the strongest typhoon to hit that part of China since 1969.

Typhoons are generated at this time of year, picking up strength as they cross the warm waters of the Pacific before bringing strong winds and violent rainstorms when they hit land.

Meranti comes just over two months after the deadly typhoon Nepartak cut power, grounded flights and forced thousands to flee their homes across central and southern areas of Taiwan.

In 2009, typhoon Morakot cut a swath of destruction through southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people and causing up to £2.3bn ($3bn) of damage.

Earlier, Meranti crossed the Philippines where there were fears for the safety of 3,000 inhabitants of the tiny island of Itbayat after satellite images showed it directly in the eye of the megastorm.

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A weatherman at the Pagasa meteorological station in Manila, who gave his name as Rene, said that communications had not been established with Itbayat and that the local government was desperately trying to reach inhabitants.

“Maybe we can fix communications by tomorrow,” he said, as strong gusts of wind were still being recorded in the area and night was falling. Residents, already familiar with strong typhoons, would hopefully have been protected by the traditional stone houses with strong, thick walls, Rene added. “We pray there will be no casualties,” he said.

The weatherman added that it was unusual for the eye of a storm to be bigger than the size of an entire island.

Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) In eye of supertyphoon Merati? That's Filipino island of Itbayat, w/3k residents. As scary a pic as I've ever seen pic.twitter.com/dXk65kdbZb

On land this strength of storm would be capable of stripping trees and producing catastrophic damage to buildings.

Satellite images early on Wednesday showed the entire island, which is just 83 sq km in size, sitting within the storm’s eye. Weather experts expressed concern for the safety of residents.

“As scary a pic as I’ve ever seen,” said Bill McKibben, an author and environmentalist from Vermont.

James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) Wind coming in sudden violent gusts in Kenting, sheltered by mountain behind hotel to north super #typhoon #Meranti pic.twitter.com/d1l2U355KK

Meranti is the world’s fourth category 5 storm in 2016. On average there are between four and five each year.

Scientists fear the increase in devastating tropical storms over the past few decades may have been caused by global warming.

Reuters contributed to this report