Typhoon Meranti Hits China and Taiwan: 1 died, several injured
Typhoon Meranti battered China and Taiwan early on Thursday, with heavy winds and rain. Streets were covered with broken glass from shattered windows and ripped up trees.
The super typhoon, packing winds of 170 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour) made landfall around 3 am near the city of Xiamen before heading inland.
Images from different locations showed flooded streets and traffic signs torn from their position by violent winds.
72-year-old Ma Wenhua, who lives in Xiamen said, “I have never seen anything so scary in my entire life, we had to put so many buckets out to catch all the leaks.”
The local tourism bureau reported the 800-year-old Song dynasty wooden bridge was washed away in Yongchun County in Fujian.
A statement said “The whole city is heartbroken! The bridge had withstood a long and stormy history but had no luck with Meranti”.
One person has reportedly died and 44 people were injured as the typhoon surged over the island.
More than 900,000 households have lost power, while another 500,000 are facing issues with water supply.
Meranti is the strongest typhoon since Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in 2013.
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