FUZHOU -- Typhoon Meranti made landfall in Xiang’an district of Xiamen City, east China’s Fujian Province, at 3:05am on Thursday, with gales up to 48m per second.

The world’s strongest typhoon so far this year has also been monitored as the strongest one hitting southern Fujian Province since the local meteorological records were kept in 1949.

The winds shattered windows on high buildings, causing disruption of tap water supplies in many communities in Xiamen.

"The winds and rain got extremely loud after 3am. The cracking sound of windows and tree branches were also scary. The power went out in the shop for several times," said Su Binglin, a night-shift shop assistant at a 24-hour convenient store.

He said he had to use a metal plate to strengthen the shop door to prevent it from shattering. He also used boxes filled with mineral water to consolidate the plate.

At around 6am, the winds abated.

The Xiamen Power Supply Co. said that the typhoon has made severe damages to the power grid in Xiamen, causing mass blackout. The electricity supply was also disrupted in Xiamen’s outlying islands.

As the typhoon is further plowing inland, more damages of the power network are likely.

Thursday coincided with China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which gives a three-day public holiday. Schools and kindergartens in coastal cities of Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian in Fujian were closed on Wednesday in precaution against the typhoon.

The railway authorities in Nanchang, east China’s Jiangxi Province, announced on Wednesday to cancel 144 trains that had been scheduled between Wednesday to Saturday to southern and eastern cities in an emergent response to the typhoon. - XINHUA