Super Typhoon Meranti hurls itself towards China. (Photo : NOAA)
China tomorrow morning (Sept. 15) will take the full brunt of Super Typhoon Meranti and its over 210 km/h winds equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic.
As of early morning on Sept. 14, Meranti's winds were reported at 285 km/h and its gusts at 370 km/h.
Meranti will be the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in China since Super Typhoon Saomai struck in 2006 with one minute sustained winds of 260 km/h. It's also the strongest typhoon in Asia since Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the central Philippines in 2013, and is the strongest storm to come this close to Taiwan since 1959.
The extremely powerful typhoon was packing 370 km/h gusts as it closed in on Taiwan Tuesday morning. In terms of one minute sustained winds, Meranti intensified from a 110 km/h tropical storm to a 285 km/h Category 5 super typhoon in just 36 hours.
Meranti is expected to make landfall in Guangdong or Fujian provinces on Thursday. Authorities in six southeastern provinces and Shanghai have activated emergency response measures as Meranti approaches.
The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System estimates over 33 million people in Fujian and 45 million people in Zhejiang will be impacted by Meranti.
China's National Commission for Disaster Reduction has asked regional authorities to prepare aid and relief for those in the typhoon's path. If the storm does make landfall in eastern Guangdong, it will be the strongest to hit the province in 47 years, said state-run news agency Xinhua.
"It only took nine hours for Meranti to grow into a super typhoon from a typhoon," said Guangdong meteorologist Zhang Dong.
"Packing winds between 202 to 220 kilometers per hour, it is interacting with another storm, Malakas, 1,000 kilometers away, and the route could be hard to predict."
Super Typhoon Saomai is considered the most powerful typhoon on record to strike the east coast of China. It destroyed about 54,000 buildings and killed at least 441 people by official count, although unofficial sources suggest a death toll of around 1,000.
