Mainland China is bracing for its week-long flooding to get worse as super typhoon Nepartak heads to the country.
Nepartak wreaked havoc in Taiwan after it made landfall early Friday, killing at least two people and leaving more than 72 injured.
According to China Daily, the super typhoon came ashore in Taitung County on Friday morning, forcing more than 15,000 locals to evacuate.
Winds moved 45 meters per second, with gusts of up to 55 meters per second.
Nepartak had weakened to a medium-strength typhoon by late-morning on Friday and is expected to hit Fujian Province on Saturday, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said via China Daily.
Cars and roofs were torn while power supply was cut in 430,000 households in Taiwan in the wake of the super typhoon.
Images of the destruction caused by Nepartak made rounds online, most of them showing flooded areas and paralyzed thoroughfares due to heavy rainfalls.
In China, officials are preparing for the worse as Nepartak moves toward the mainland, where torrential rain has already caused massive flooding in some areas.
In the city of Wuhan, the subway remained the only means of public transportation.
In some companies, employees were allowed to work from home as flooding hit the suburbs, the South China Morning Post reported.
Torrential rain across the mainland resulted in more than 180 deaths, with at least 45 people missing.
Citing figures from authorities, the SCMP reported that “throughout the country about 1.5 million people had to be evacuated and 56,000 houses had collapsed. The direct economic losses amounted to 50.6 billion yuan (HK$59 billion).”
Overall, about 1,200 counties in 26 provinces and municipalities had been affected, the SCMP added.
In anticipation of the potential damages carried by the incoming super typhoon, Chinese officials have already released early warnings to the public.
Nepartak will be the first typhoon to enter China this year.