China today issued highest cyclone alert and evacuated over 1.58 lakh people from its coastal provinces as super typhoon Soudelor moved towards it after leaving a trail of destruction in Taiwan, where at least six people were killed and 100 others injured.
China, which faces Taiwan across a narrow strait, has evacuated over 1.58 lakh people from Fujian province as Soudelor approached southeast China's coastal provinces this evening with downpours and gales.
The typhoon, expected to land between the cities of Jinjiang and Fuqing this evening, will pose a serious threat to Fujian, the provincial meteorological station said.
Flights to the provincial capital Fuzhou, which is being battered by heavy rain and strong wind, have been cancelled.
About 100 trains running through the city of Xiamen have suspended services while the airport in the city of Quanzhou has canceled its flights, sate-run Xinhua agency reported.
Neighboring Jiangxi Province also suspended some trains as torrential rain is expected to drench the province.
At least six people were killed and four others listed missing as the storm made landfall in eastern Taiwan's Hualien County early at 4:40 a.M today, bringing damaging winds, high waves and flash floods.
More than 3 million households lost electricity in Taiwan as the powerful storm ripped through the country.
According to Taiwan Power Company, it is the biggest power outage from a typhoon in the island's history.
By mid-morning, Soudelor was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour.
The typhoon weakened later today with top winds of up to 144 kph (89 mph) while moving away from the island in a northwesterly direction.
In Fujian province, fallen trees were scattered across city streets and provincial highways.
Water supply to houses had also been disrupted for several hours.
In the coastal city of Putian, several houses had fallen down. A section of power grid was also blown out.
Provincial officials have been sent to supervise efforts to battle the typhoon in Fujian cities.
