Nearly 600,000 evacuated as rainstorms batter eastern China

Several provincial departments in Fujian have urgently allocated 210 million yuan (about 31 million U.S. dollars) for emergency rescue, disaster relief and post-disaster recovery in hard-hit areas.

The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters activated a Level-III flood-control emergency response, the third-highest level, while maintaining a Level-IV response for the typhoon.

Typhoon Saudel, the 18th typhoon of 2026, made its third landfall in Zhangpu County under the city of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, on Thursday morning, prompting tens of thousands of people to be evacuated amid warnings of strong winds and heavy downpours.

Typhoon Saudel has also affected 128,500 residents in 53 counties in the neighboring province of Jiangxi and forced the emergency evacuation of nearly 8,700 people there.

Authorities in Jiangxi activated a Level-IV flood-control emergency response on Friday morning.

Earlier, it was reported that 31 people had been confirmed dead and 531 others were still missing as of 6 p.m. Friday, following a mudslide on August 26 that struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.