Typhoon Saomai, the eighth to hit China this year, made landfall in Cangnan County, east China's Zhejiang Province Thursday afternoon, bringing heavy winds and torrential rain.
The provincial meteorological observatory said it was the strongest typhoon to hit southeast China in half a century.
The typhoon has already toppled more than 1,000 houses, cut 97 percent of power lines in Cangnan county and 40 percent of local communication links.
Over 80 people have been injured, and 20,000 hectares of rice fields had been inundated.
Vice Director of the State Meteological Bureau Xu Xiaofeng said various preventative measures are being taken to fight agaist the disaster.
 "All departments concerned and local observatories at all levels have been on watch 24 hours a day, and China's 11 coastal provinces have jointly launched a meterological monitoring system."
Besides Zhejiang and FuJian, provinces like Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan are also likely to be afftected in 24 hours.
A spokesman with the State Flood Prevention Administration, Cheng Dianlong, expressed his worry that Saomai might cause damage to the inland area.
"It might still have devestating power when it enters the inland area. Flood control measures should be taken for the inland lakes and reservoirs that might be affected by the Typhoon and ensure that all the boats and people are safe"
So far, about 20,000 soldiers and militiamen have been deployed on China's eastern area to boost rescue and disaster relief efforts as Typhoon Saomai hits.
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Director: Liu Chi