At 3.30 pm, Friday, typhoon Rammasun made landfall in the coastal area of Wenchang in the Hainan Province. Rammasun is regarded the most violent typhoon reaching land in South China since 1973 according to the National Meteorological Centre.

Rammasun hit the coast with maximum wind force around the center at around 60m/s which is even more than the suspected 50-55 m/s. Reaching the mainland, the storm is expected to produce strong gales with up to 150 km/h, heavy rain and tidal surges.

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Shipping in the region has already been suspended just like all flying to the popular holiday destination Hainan has been cancelled. Furthermore, 36 trains in the Guangxi region west of Guangdong have been stopped.

Until Friday evening one person has been killed in the town of Wengtian on Hainan after he was struck by debris when his house collapsed, according to a Xinhua report.

Busses and tour companies has been required to help with the evacuation of more than 26,000 people on Hainan and the authorities have ordered the highest level of disaster alert for the region.

The storm brought high winds and rain to Hong Kong and was due to plow through northern Vietnam after passing Hainan.

Rammasun barreled through the northern Philippines on Wednesday, drenching the capital, Manila, and knocking out power to whole provinces. The Philippine government raised the death toll Friday to 54. Three more people were missing and 100 injured.

From 2009 the Hong Kong Observatory started to divide typhoons into three different classifications: typhoon, severe typhoon and super typhoon. A typhoon has wind speed of 118-149 km/h; a severe typhoon has winds of at least 150 km/h, and a super typhoon has winds of at least 190 km/h.

Only two times before have super typhoons hit China. In 2006 it was typhoon Saomai and in 1973 it was Marge.

Saomai, registered as a once-a-century typhoon, was the most powerful typhoon ever to have made landfall over mainland China. Rammasun might top both.

The existing typhoon record of 78.9 m/s was observed at Dalaoshan, Hong Kong, on 1 September 1962.

TagsHainan, super typhoon Rammasun