More than 117,000 households suffer blackout as Typhoon Meranti hits Taiwan

TAIPEI -- Typhoon Meranti made landfall Wednesday, leaving 117,666 households in Taiwan without any power as strong winds and heavy downpour battered the island, according to Taiwan Power Company on Wednesday.

According to the power company, 114,485 households were still cut off from the power grid as of 9:58 am Wednesday. Among them, more than 91,000 households were in Pingtung county in the south of the island.

Meanwhile, flights were also canceled and road transportation disrupted on Wednesday, in addition to closure of schools, according to local authorities.

Taiwan's meteorological agency Wednesday issued a land and sea warning for the typhoon, which would affect 13 counties and cities in southern and eastern parts of the island, including Kaohsiung,Taitung and Hualien.