Typhoon Maria wreaks havoc along China’s east coast

Typhoon Maria is wreaking havoc along China’s east coast, after making landfall in Fujian Province on Wednesday morning.

Maria, the eighth typhoon this year, made landfall at 09:10 GMT on Wednesday in Lianjiang County, in the eastern province, with winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour at the storm’s eye, according to local meteorological authorities.

The typhoon destroyed a seaside road in Dayu Town, in east China’s Zhejiang Province, and damaged local residential buildings.

More than 270,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, as of Wednesday morning. All schools, including kindergartens, in the city were closed on Wednesday due to the typhoon.

Rough waves brought about by Typhoon Maria washed away some seaside infrastructure onto roads in Fujian’s Sansha Town, where all the shops were closed due to the extreme weather.

Meanwhile, winds approaching 100km/h damaged around 2,000 trees in the urban area of Fujian’s Ningde City.

A final warning has now been issued for the storm. It is expected to fall below typhoon strength during the latter part of Wednesday.

Typhoon Maria is not expected to fully dissipate until the weekend. By which time much of northern Fujian and parts of Jiangxi provinces are likely to be hit by widespread floods and mudslides.