By Niva Chittock of RNZ

A New Zealander living in southern China says her workplace is shut, streets are quiet and authorities are clearing anything that could be taken away in winds as a super typhoon bears down.

At least one person died in a landslide caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa hitting the northern Philippines.

The storm was being described as the strongest on the planet so far this year.

Schools and workplaces had closed, public transport was suspended and, in some cases, mass evacuations had already taken place in the Philippines and China.

Wind gusts of up to 215km/h were recorded in the Philippines’ northern Luzon region, where tens of thousands of people were sheltering.

The typhoon had now moved west and was due to make landfall in southern China on Tuesday night.

Caetlind moved to Foshan in Guangdong province five years ago.

While the region was no stranger to typhoons, she said it didn’t take long to realise this one was different.

Caetlind first found out about the typhoon when a fellow teacher mentioned it – shortly after, her school announced it was closing and sent everyone home with information about the impending typhoon.

“[The authorities] have recommended we stay at home. We have ordered enough food for the next two to three days – we have enough water,” she said.

People were told to stay indoors unless it was essential.

About an hour away in Shenzhen, Chinese authorities were planning to evacuate 400,000 people before Ragasa made landfall.

Caetlind said while that was not the case where she lived, plenty of preventive measures were being taken.

“Structures that could be blown away in the wind have been taken down, things like tents and bikes have been removed from the streets,” she said.

China has activated emergency responses and taken various measures ahead of Super Typhoon Ragasa making landfall. Photo / Zhong Zijie, Xinhua via AFP

Trees were regularly maintained in her neighbourhood, so there were few fears of falling branches, Caetlind said.

Chinese authorities were expecting Super Typhoon Ragasa to last through until at least Wednesday.

Hong Kong International Airport was closing from this evening for 36 hours, cancelling hundreds of flights.

Caetlind said despite not having experienced a typhoon this strong before, she felt safe and well-informed, with her phone regularly receiving the latest developments.

She was planning to spend the time playing games, eating snacks and hanging out with her cats.

- RNZ