Typhoon Saudel brings torrential rain, flooding to China's coastal areas
Typhoon Saudel has caused severe flooding and infrastructure damage across China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. Experts link the intensity of the storm and the unusual meteorological sequence to the ongoing El Niño phenomenon.
Why it matters
The event underscores the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and their direct impact on urban and rural infrastructure in coastal regions.
China's southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong braced for further torrential rain on Friday (September 4, 2026), after severe downpours linked to Typhoon Saudel triggered flooding in urban and rural areas, swamping vehicles and causing a three-storey brick building to collapse.
In Fujian's city of Fuding, known for its tea plantations and lush greenery, firefighters waded through waist-deep floodwaters to carry elderly people to safety, social media footage verified by Reuters showed.
In nearby Jinxi village, a tea-growing community surrounded by mountains, raging floodwaters inundated residential buildings and brought down a three-storey house, the footage showed.
Local authorities have shut schools, suspended public transport and enforced emergency flood protocols across multiple coastal areas.
Saudel made its third landfall along the coast of Fujian on Thursday (September 3) morning after intensifying again over the South China Sea.
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