Typhoon Saomai – The strongest typhoon for over 50 years by Kaye Forster
The most powerful typhoon in over five decades has hit south-eastern parts of China, destroying buildings and forcing more than 1.5 million people to evacuate.
The typhoon first hit the Philippines on Wednesday, destroying more than 200 houses and killing two people. After strengthening in the South China Sea, Saomai made landfall near the Chinese town of Mazhan in the coastal Zhejiang province on Thursday afternoon. Wind speeds roared up to 135mph, making it a category 4 storm (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the strongest). This meant that the Saomai was the strongest storm to hit China since the founding of the communist government in 1949.
Nearly one million people were evacuated to safety from the flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and more than 500,000 more from the province of Fujian. Torrential rain caused landslides and severe flooding in many low-lying areas. More than 10,000 houses were destroyed and power was cut to several large towns.
Since making landfall, Saomai has lost the fuel given by the warm sea waters and has now weakened to a tropical depression. Wind speeds have dropped to just 15mph but the threat of heavy rain and flooding still exists for the inland provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui.
Saomai was the eighth major storm of this year’s unusually busy typhoon season. Just last week Typhoon Prapiroon ripped through the Chinese province of Guangdong causing severe flooding and landslides.
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