China’s Wenchang city, in the north-east of Hainan Island, was hit by the most powerful typhoon in a decade.
Amid the threat of “Typhoon Yagi”, over 400,000 people were evacuated from the island to safe grounds.
Transport means were suspended such as trains, boats, and flights while schools in the area were shut ahead of Yagi.
The authorities warned of strong and destructive winds.
Meteorologists have cautioned that Yagi can cause calamity in Hainan and the neighboring province of Guangdong, China’s most populous province.
The Indo-Pacific Tropical Cyclone Warning Center warned in an advisory on Thursday that Yagi is an extremely catastrophic and powerful super typhoon that can make a disastrous landfall. A super typhoon is equal to a “Category 5 hurricane”.
Yagi has come to China with double the power after causing havoc in the Philippines earlier this week.
The typhoon had caused floods and landslides in the country, killing at least 13 in the northern Philippines and thousands were evacuated to safety.
As for China, the weather authorities expect 500mm of rainfall in the region.
The catastrophic typhoon is also expected to make its way to Vietnam late on Saturday but will be weaker.
Vietnamese media reports that over 460,000 officers will be deployed to manage the disaster.
