Hundreds of people have been evacuated and vessels ordered back to harbour in Taiwan and in the Guangdong Province of China as the largest Typhoon to hit mainland China for 47 years approaches, according to reports.
The worst area to be affected so far is the Kaohsiung area of Southern Taiwan, home to Taiwan’s largest port, where power has been lost to almost 260,000 people and flights and trains halted; 4,000 military personnel have been deployed in the region for aid.
Wind gusts getting more and more violent in Kenting #Taiwan super #typhoon #Meranti pic.twitter.com/CEDddv3PHa
— James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) September 14, 2016
Earlier in July, 2016, 75 container ships were disrupted and port operations halted when a similar typhoon, named Nepartak, battered the same region; local authorities issued a red alert as this storm is considered more powerful and dangerous than Nepartak.
The storm has been named Miranti, and is expected to hit the coast of the Guangdong province in China, home to Guangzhou port, early on Thursday September 15, 2016, after already battering the Philippines and engulfing an entire island of 3,000 people in its eye.
In eye of supertyphoon Merati? That's Filipino island of Itbayat, w/3k residents. As scary a pic as I've ever seen pic.twitter.com/dXk65kdbZb
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) September 13, 2016
Technical Paper: Superstorms And Rising Sea Levels, The New Challenges for Sea Ports
