Typhoon Meranti leaves seven dead, 700,000 affected in Fujian as Taiwan braces for new round of pummelling from Malakas

Meranti travels towards Shanghai and Jiangsu after bringing down thousands of houses and destroying crops

Super Typhoon Meranti’s death toll in southeastern China’s Fujian province climbed to seven on Friday as it continued to ravage the country’s eastern coast, pelting it with heavy rain even after weakening into a tropical storm.

Meanwhile, Taiwan – which saw one killed and 44 injured in Meranti – braced itself for the arrival of yet another typhoon on Friday as Malakas moved from the southern tip of the island towards its north.

In Fujian, seven people have been killed and nine remain missing since Meranti landed in the province on early Thursday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs
.

The super typhoon, which shattered windows and disrupted water and power supplies, is the world’s strongest so far this year. It was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday afternoon after it battered Fujian for 12 long hours.

More than 700,000 people across 79 counties in the costal province were affected, among whom nearly half had to be relocated, according to the ministry’s report.

The typhoon left a trail of destruction in its wake, with gales bringing down more than 1,600 houses and damaging another 12,000. Over 22,000 hectares of crops were destroyed.
Authorities estimated direct economic losses of some 1.66 billion yuan (HK$1.93 billion).

News Source: South China Morning Post

#Typhoon #Meranti sets inflatable moon balloon loose in south-east #China. It didn't hu... (Vine by @BBCWorld) https://t.co/7j6zV3Hy1e

— ️ ☺️❤️ (@sykinani) September 16, 2016

3-hour #Himawari loop of #Typhoon #Malakas near #Taiwan showing a deepening storm system. #tropics #cyclones pic.twitter.com/FF3b6MufzS

— WxForecastSolns (@WxForecastSolns) September 16, 2016