Update | Super Typhoon Soudelor is the biggest storm of the year – and it’s heading straight for China
Super Typhoon Soudelor developed into the world's most powerful storm of the year yesterday as it took aim at Taiwan and the mainland after battering the Northern Marianas.
Super Typhoon Soudelor developed into the world's most powerful storm of the year yesterday as it took aim at Taiwan and the mainland after battering the Northern Marianas.
The storm was roaring across the western Pacific Ocean packing wind gusts of up to 354km/h according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, which rated it a maximum category five.
UPDATE: Typhoon Warning Centre downgrades Soudelor but Hong Kong Observatory disagrees
It was stronger than Cyclone Pam, the previous strongest storm of 2015, which killed at least 15 people when it slammed into Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, five months ago.
It was expected to be downgraded to category four or three by the time it hits Taiwan and the mainland late tomorrow.
"The city will however be affected by the outer-subsiding air of the typhoon, which will bring hot weather, hazy skies, and between Thursday and Saturday, some rain and thunderstorms," said Observatory scientific officer Yeung Wai-lung.
Soudelor is expected to come within 800km of the city on Saturday, but Yeung said it was too early to say whether a number one storm signal could be raised.
No deaths have been attributed to Soudelor, but it left a trail of destruction across the Northern Marianas, where acting governor Ralph Torres declared a "state of major disaster and significant emergency" after it struck late on Sunday.
READ MORE: A dramatic history of the deadliest typhoons to strike Hong Kong
Nearly 400 people were packed in emergency shelters after Soudelor ripped roofs off houses and left residents without power, water and wastewater services.
"I've seen multiple primary power poles down; I've seen cars flipped over the road; I've seen lots of torn roofs," John Hirsh, executive director of the American Red Cross in Saipan, told .
Damage was "extensive" across the island and there had been significant damage to public infrastructure, he said.
Many roads were impassable in Saipan - the Northern Marianas main island, the seat of government and hub of the local economy - while in the harbour at least three vessels were ripped from their moorings. Tropical typhoons and cyclones typically form in the western Pacific between May and October.