Key Takeaways
- Typhoon Saudel triggered severe flooding in Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
- In Fuding, firefighters rescued elderly people from waist-deep floodwaters.
- Local authorities have enforced emergency protocols and evacuated thousands of residents.
Typhoon Saudel, the seventh typhoon to hit China this year, brought torrential rain and flooding to the southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, causing significant damage and prompting emergency measures.
In Fuding, a city known for its tea plantations, firefighters had to wade through waist-deep floodwaters to rescue elderly people, as verified by social media footage.
In nearby Jinxi village, raging floodwaters inundated residential buildings and brought down a three-storey house, according to the same social media footage.
Local authorities have taken swift action, shutting schools, suspending public transport, and enforcing emergency flood protocols across multiple coastal areas.
Typhoon Saudel made its third landfall along the coast of Fujian on Thursday morning after intensifying over the South China Sea.
The meteorological sequence is extremely rare, according to the China Meteorological Administration, and is closely linked to El Niño, which is expected to intensify further into 2027.
Since late August, hundreds of thousands of people have been relocated across Zhejiang and nearby provinces, including over 83,000 residents in Fujian alone.
In Putian, floodwaters spilled over main highways, damaged bridge structures, and inundated residential buildings, according to social media videos shared on China’s RedNote.
Local authorities are organizing rescue teams to evacuate trapped residents, as reported by state broadcaster CCTV.
The typhoon season could extend into December due to an extended period of warm weather, according to Hui Su, a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
