More than three million people have been evacuated from their homes in southern China as Super Typhoon Mankhut grinds its way across the country today.
Four people so far have been confirmed dead in Guangdong by the storm, which earlier shut down Hong Kong, leaving wreckage and hundreds injured.
Before Hong Kong, Mankhut hit the Philippines, where the death toll has reached 65, with 43 people missing, mostly in landslides, reports Chinese state news agency, Xinhua.
One of the most powerful storms to hit the region in decades, the typhoon made landfall in Mainland China at 5pm yesterday at Jiangmen City in Guangdong, packing winds up to 162km/h.
Three people were killed by falling trees in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, while another person died from collapsing construction materials, reports Xinhua.
By 11pm local time last night, more than 3.11 million people had been relocated, the news agency said.
Mankhut is expected to hit the Chinese regions of Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan later in the day.
In Hong Kong, the storm injured 213 people and caused terror by shaking tall buildings, smashing windows and felling trees.
It ripped a construction elevator off the side of a 22-storey building. A video of the elevator falling, and also of buildings shaking and windows smashing, can be seen below.
The city shut down. Most shops and public services were shut, and about 900 flights were cancelled at Hong Kong International Airport.
A video posted on Twitter shows a grounded airliner lifted into the air by the wind; it appears to fly for an instant before being tossed away.
A resident living in a high-rise in the city told Reuters news agency she could feel her building swaying in the storm.
"It swayed for quite a long time, at least two hours," Elaine Wong said. "It made me feel so dizzy."
Mangkhut is expected to gradually weaken into a tropical depression by Tuesday as it continues to move inland.
Image: Damaged windows of a building in Hong Kong, 16 September 2018 (Xinhua/Wang Shen)
- Edited on 26/9/18 with the removal of a video that was fake. Thank you for your comments
