Typhoon Saudel brings torrential rain, flooding to China’s coastal areas

Typhoon Saudel has unleashed torrential rain and flooding across China's southern coastal regions, prompting authorities to take emergency measures. The storm follows Typhoon Narra, which caused significant rainfall in Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong provinces late last month. As Saudel made its third landfall in Fujian province on Thursday, flooding in urban and rural areas was reported, damaging infrastructure and displacing residents.

In Fuding, a city known for its tea plantations, firefighters rescued elderly individuals from waist-deep floodwaters. Meanwhile, a three-story brick building collapsed under the pressure of the storm. The Chinese Meteorological Administration warned that this sequence of typhoons is unprecedented and directly linked to the El Nino phenomenon, which has caused the Western Pacific subtropical high to shift northward, directing typhoons toward China's eastern coast.

The UN has predicted that El Nino could intensify further in 2027, increasing the risk of extreme weather events. Over 83,000 people have been evacuated from Fujian alone as the typhoon tracked inland, and additional measures are being taken to prevent landslides and other secondary disasters.