Typhoon Meranti lashes eastern China

Typhoon Meranti brought heavy rainfall to eastern Chinese provinces after making landfall in Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province, early Thursday.

The world's strongest typhoon this year is the strongest to hit Fujian since records began in 1949. It brought gales of up to 48 meters per second.

The wind uprooted trees, shattered windows and disrupted water supplies for many communities in Xiamen. At one point, more than 3.2 million homes had no electricity in Fujian, and 1.44 million still had no power by Thursday night.

An 871-year-old bridge in Yongchun County was destroyed by the flood. The Dongguan Bridge was a protected heritage site and built in 1145 during the Song Dynasty.

More than 32,000 boats returned to harbor, and over 300,000 people in Fujian were evacuated.

The typhoon also brought heavy rainfall as it moved to lash Zhejiang Province. Record amount of precipitation was reported at two monitoring stations, over 400 millimeters.

More than 63,000 people in Zhejiang were relocated.

The typhoon has left one person dead and 51 injured.

Source : XINHUA