The sound of rush hour in Zhuhai on China's southern coast has been replaced by howling winds and sheets of rain.
Branches from falling trees and what looked like pieces of metal from the edge of a building flew along empty roads on Wednesday as typhoon Ragasa bore down.
Police vehicles have been patrolling the streets with megaphones, urging people to stay inside - but it is difficult to hear them above gusts of 100mph (160km/h) winds. Still, the thundering skies and a drenched Zhuhai are enough of a warning – apart from an occasional cyclist, determined to get to work, most people heeded the advice, bringing this city of almost three million people to a standstill.
The strongest storm the world has seen this year, Ragasa has been making its way across the South China Sea after battering the Philippines and Taiwan. At least 15 people have died in eastern Taiwan after a mountain lake burst its banks, officials have said.
As the storm brushed past Hong Kong, steep waves crashed into land, inundating coastal areas, alongside powerful winds and rain, leaving more than 60 people injured.
It made landfall in China this evening at 17:00 local time (09:00 GMT). By then, nearly two million people in densely populated Guangdong province, home to Zhuhai, had already been evacuated. Officials have also issued a red alert for high tides and coastal surges.
As the eye of the storm barrelled close to the mainland, the rain lashed the city's tall buildings. The wind, already strong, hit harder in waves and blasts, which made standing upright almost impossible. Even watching from inside, windows in our new hotel creaked under the strain.
This hotel is also hosting some of those who have been evacuated from low-lying areas across this province. Families mill around, with the few possessions they were able to grab for the night, while their children dance through the hallways – perhaps just happy to have the day off school.
Zhuhai is a popular tourist spot, with golf resorts and theme parks. Perched on a delta where the Pearl River meets the South China Sea, it is used to typhoons, and it was prepared for this one.
Householders have been taping up their windows, while businesses had sandbags delivered to put at their doorways to prevent coastal surges seeping into their properties.
There has been no panic, just resignation. We were told that neighbourhood watch officers had gone door to door checking on residents and local shops to ensure they complied with evacuation orders. We only found a disgruntled few who did not want to close their restaurant too early and lose more hours of business.
There are hundreds of evacuation centres across the city. Police patrols had also started early, with officers posted on street corners and beach areas to stop curious locals getting too close to the waves. Local workers were quickly dispatched to cut down stray branches from trees.
Authorities in China have had plenty of practice at preparing for disasters, taking warnings very seriously due to past criticisms regarding their response. The warnings come days before the typhoon closes in.
Even before Ragasa had hit the Philippines, the weather department in Guangdong began advising people to prepare for a 'catastrophic disaster', a warning described as rare by Chinese state media.
Officials know there will be more like this as weather experts previously warned that typhoons have been getting more intense in China. This has been a year marked by extreme weather, including heatwaves, storms, droughts, floods, and ruined harvests.
Typhoon Ragasa serves as yet another test of China's disaster preparedness. Yet, the ordeal is not over; alerts for heavy rain and warnings about potential landslides in mountainous regions remain in effect.
