▲ Typhoon damage in China in the past (File Photo)
Heavy downpours brought by Typhoon Soudelor have caused widespread damage in China's southeastern province of Fujian, resulting in flooded homes and missing residents.
Citing authorities in Putian, Fujian Province, state-run media outlets including Xinhua News Agency reported today (September 4) that torrential rains from Soudelor submerged some houses, trapped residents, and led to missing persons.
Local authorities deployed rescue teams to move trapped residents to safety while launching searches for the missing.
However, Xinhua did not report detailed information on the extent of the damage.
Soudelor made landfall along the coast of Zhangzhou City in Fujian Province at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday, local time, packing maximum sustained winds of 23 meters per second near its center.
This marks the third time the typhoon has made landfall in China, following previous landfalls in Taizhou and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province on August 28.
Soudelor exhibited an unusual trajectory, weakening as it moved inland into China before heading out into the South China Sea, where it re-intensified and made a secondary landfall in Fujian.
Due to the typhoon and its outer circulation, parts of Fujian Province received over 100 mm of rain during a 24-hour period starting from 6 a.m. on September 2, with some areas recording rainfall exceeding 250 mm.
The area known as China's top white tea street in Fuding, Ningde, was submerged, causing damage such as the flooding of local specialty white tea stored in shops and vehicles being swept away.
Fujian provincial authorities evacuated more than 83,700 residents from hazardous areas, while cities including Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou ordered the suspension of schools, businesses, and factory operations.
Although Soudelor weakened into a tropical depression late yesterday night, China's meteorological authorities forecast that heavy rains will continue in parts of Fujian and Guangdong.
(File Photo: Yonhap News)
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