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

China's southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong braced for further torrential rain on Friday, 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, social media footage verified by Reuters 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 morning after intensifying again over the South China Sea.



It is the seventh typhoon to hit China this year and the third to strike the city of Yuhuan in eastern Zhejiang in less than two months.



The meteorological sequence is extremely rare, according to China's Meteorological Administration, and one that experts say is closely linked to El Niño.