About 300,000 people have been evacuated as Typhoon Nesat landed in the southern-most island province of Hainan Thursday afternoon.

Fallen tress are seen on a road in Wenchang City, south China's Hainan Province, Sept. 29, 2011. Typhoon Nesat landed in Wengtian Town of Wenchang at 2:30 Beijing Time (0630 GMT) Thursday. [Xinhua]

Packing winds of 42 meters per second at its center, it made landfall in Wengtian Township in Wenchang at 2:30 p.m., bringing heavy winds and torrential rain to the city in eastern Hainan.

The city had evacuated 57,738 people from disaster-prone areas, including low-lying areas and fishing boats, said Fu Taosheng, deputy director of the city's flood control and drought relief headquarters.

According to the provincial meteorological bureau, precipitation in 72 townships in the province exceeded 100 mm between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday.

The province has also recalled ships, suspended flight and ferry services and closed schools in preparation for Nesat, which is the 17th typhoon to hit China this year as well as the strongest.

It is also the strongest typhoon to hit Hainan since 2005, said Cai Qinbo, head of the provincial weather station.

Chen Cheng, vice governor of Hainan, ordered all fishing boats to return to harbor and fishermen to take shelter ashore. So far, a total of 27,223 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor.

The storm seriously disrupted local transportation services.