Typhoon Saudel Floods Fujian and Triggers Deadly Landslide in Jiangxi

Typhoon Saudel has killed at least one person and left more than a dozen missing across southeastern China after its torrential rains triggered a deadly mudslide in Jiangxi and breached a dike in Fujian. The storm, which made its third landfall on Thursday morning, has collapsed over 100 homes and forced the evacuation of roughly 600,000 residents from high-risk coastal and mountainous zones.[1][4][5]

The most severe casualties occurred early Saturday in Jiangxi province. At approximately 4:00 a.m. local time, a mudslide struck Gaoping, a mountainous town in Suichuan County, burying a dozen houses under debris. Emergency responders pulled one deceased individual from the rubble and rescued two others alive, while 11 people remain unaccounted for.[4][5]

"One person pulled out was found dead, while two others were rescued alive and in good condition," local authorities said in a statement regarding the Jiangxi mudslide, noting that search operations are ongoing.[5]

The landslide followed days of relentless downpours brought by the outer bands of Saudel and an advancing cold front. Floodwaters have inundated Suichuan County, trapping residents, triggering road collapses, and severely disrupting essential public services.[4]

In neighboring Fujian province, where Saudel made landfall as a tropical storm near Zhangzhou at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, the damage to infrastructure has been extensive. A river embankment near Xihu village in Putian's Huating town overtopped and breached on Thursday afternoon.[3][6]

The breach sent floodwaters surging into nearby villages and industrial parks, trapping residents and destroying property. Local authorities confirmed that more than 100 houses collapsed in the deluge, and multiple people remain missing, though an exact figure for the missing in Fujian has not been finalized as search and rescue operations continue.[1][3]

To mitigate the mounting risks, provincial authorities in Fujian executed a massive relocation effort. By Friday night, approximately 600,000 residents had been evacuated from offshore and onshore areas deemed highly vulnerable to flooding and landslides.[2][5]

The storm's impact has cascaded through the region's economy and daily life. In Fujian, authorities closed eight sections of major roads, suspended 657 transport services, halted work at 152 construction sites, and shut down over 150 major tourist attractions. Schools across several cities, including Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Ningde, were also closed.[6]

Saudel's trajectory has been highly unusual, characterized by a convoluted lifecycle that meteorologists describe as a rare sequence of landfall, dedesignation, oceanic regeneration, and re-landfall. The system initially made two landfalls in Zhejiang province on August 28 before weakening.[3][6]

Instead of dissipating entirely, the remnant low-pressure vortex drifted into the South China Sea. Fueled by sea surface temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius and abundant monsoonal moisture, the system reorganized into a tropical storm and veered back toward the mainland for its third strike.[3]

While the National Meteorological Center stopped numbering Saudel on Thursday evening after it weakened inland, the threat has not passed. Heavy rainfall from its remnant circulation continues to drench Fujian, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, maintaining a high risk of secondary disasters such as mountain torrents and further landslides.[3]

The recovery effort now shifts to stabilizing the affected areas and locating the missing. In Suichuan County, the local water supplier issued an emergency notice warning that raw water quality had reached unsafe levels, advising residents to let tap water settle before use.[4]

The broader meteorological outlook remains active. Chinese disaster prevention authorities forecast that two to three more typhoons are expected to make landfall or significantly affect the country in September, maintaining pressure on the region's flood-control infrastructure.[6]