A 52-year-old Taiwanese fruiterer found herself unexpectedly famous after the Wall Street Journal published a photograph of her to illustrate its story on Typhoon Megi.

The woman, whom Taiwan's Apple Daily named as Mrs Dai, was chomping on a pork bun in the torrential rain when she was captured through the lens of an Associated Press photographer.

With the half-eaten bun in one hand, Mrs Dai appeared unfazed by the fact that her umbrella had already been blown inside-out by the typhoon's winds, which hit a maximum speed of 200kmh.

Internet users applauded her. They saw Mrs Dai as choosing to prioritise her traditional snack in the face of imminent meteorological doom.

Some called it an iconic display of the Taiwanese national spirit.

One cartoon rendition of the scene was captioned, "You can have the umbrella, but not the bun!"

Mrs Dai is not enjoying her newfound fame, though.

Apple Daily reported that she thinks it is a stroke of ill fortune instead, and is now too afraid to head to work, fearing the public attention.

Typhoon Megi swept through Taiwan earlier this week, killing four and injuring more than 500.