Technology and Science03 September, 20263 min read
Typhoon Saudel Makes Third Landfall in Fujian, Halts Schools and Ferry Routes
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Typhoon Saudel made its third landfall on Fujian's coast. Schools and ferry routes suspended across Fujian and eastern China.
8 outlets told this the same way.
Saudel’s Third Landfall
Typhoon Saudel made its third landfall on China’s eastern coast on Thursday morning, striking Fujian’s coast after earlier lashing neighbouring Zhejiang province twice, according to local authorities. Schools in the cities of Fuzhou and Quanzhou halted in-person activities, and some tourist attractions including theme parks were temporarily closed in Fuzhou as the storm brought persistent heavy rainfall. A total of 24 passenger ferry routes along the coast of Fujian were suspended on Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, while the province’s emergency management authority warned of rainstorms and secondary disasters including flash floods and landslides.
In Fujian, the Fuqing Meteorological Observatory upgraded its rainstorm warning from orange to red on Thursday morning, with the red warning described as the highest level in China’s four-tier weather alert system. The Mid-Day report on Nepal flash floods also underscored the broader disaster context, with Nepal’s death toll rising to 1,252 and 4,875 people still missing as Nepal Army-led rescue operations entered the ninth day.
Evacuations and Alerts
Authorities in Fujian evacuated about 247,700 people in high-risk areas last week after warnings of heavy rain, Xinhua news agency reported, as the province warned of flash floods and landslides.
The Assam Tribune said the typhoon landed along the coast of Zhangpu County in the city of Zhangzhou, Fujian, at around 6:30 a.m. Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 23 metres per second near its centre.
It also reported that on August 28 Saudel made landfall twice along the coast of east China’s Zhejiang Province, with maximum sustained winds of 35 metres per second near its centre, and later a second landfall along the coast of Wenzhou City with maximum sustained wind speed of 33 metres per second.
In Fuqing, drone footage described widespread devastation as torrential rainfall inundated the region and prompted authorities to issue a red rainstorm alert, while local authorities said 15 monitoring stations recorded more than 50 millimeters of rain within 24 hours.
The Times of India similarly described schools and ferry routes being suspended in Fujian on Thursday, with 24 passenger ferry routes along Fujian’s coast suspended, and added that a three-storey building in Xianyou County was swept away by flash floods triggered by intense rainfall.
Climate Risk and Disruption
Free Malaysia Today linked the storm’s impacts to climate risk, saying scientists warn the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions. The same report described a catastrophic flood sliced through the border area between Nepal and China’s Tibet region last week, killing more than 1,200 people and leaving more than 4,750 missing as of Thursday. In Nepal, Mid-Day reported the flash flood death toll rose to 1,252 on Thursday, with 4,875 people still missing as Nepal Army-led rescue operations entered the ninth day.
In Fujian, the emergency response included suspending classes, businesses, construction work and nonessential industrial activity, while public buses, taxis, ride-hailing vehicles and passenger ferries were also suspended, according to the cedarnews.net account of local measures. The Times of India described operational disruption beyond Fujian’s streets, noting that in Zhejiang’s Wenzhou more than 2,500 teachers and students were trapped in a school compound on Wednesday after extreme rainfall caused flash flooding in the low-lying area, and that authorities used drones to deliver food and drinking water to those stranded.