Rescue Operations in Fujian
Social media footage authenticated by Reuters captured firefighters navigating waist-high floodwaters in Fuding, a Fujian city recognized for its verdant greenery and tea farms, to move senior citizens to secure locations. Based on the same footage, severe floods swept through residential areas and destroyed a three-storey home in the nearby mountain-fringed tea community of Jinxi. 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 the morning of September 3 after intensifying over the South China Sea. This particular storm represents the seventh typhoon to affect China throughout 2026, as well as the third to impact eastern Zhejiang’s city of Yuhuan inside a span of under two months.
Meteorological Context and El Niño Impact
China’s Meteorological Administration notes that this weather pattern is exceptionally uncommon, with specialists connecting it directly to El Niño conditions. During an El Niño period, the Western Pacific subtropical high becomes unusually powerful and shifts further northward, steering typhoons along a north-westerly path straight toward the eastern coastline of China. On September 3, the United Nations issued a warning indicating that El Niño is projected to grow even stronger heading into 2027 and has the potential to become the most powerful on record, thereby heightening the danger of extended severe weather events. Since the end of August, hundreds of thousands of individuals have been moved away from danger zones across Zhejiang and neighboring provinces—a figure that encompasses upwards of 83,000 people evacuated within Fujian alone as Saudel tracked inland and soaked surrounding areas.
Wider Regional Impacts and Secondary Risks
Video clips posted on China’s RedNote platform revealed that floodwaters breached major highways, harmed bridge infrastructure, and flooded homes in Putian, a Fujian municipality traversed by the Mulan River through its downtown district. Local authorities are organizing rescue teams to evacuate trapped residents, state broadcaster CCTV reported on September 4, adding that some people are missing. Saudel follows Typhoon Narra, which dumped heavy rain across Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong provinces late in August. A warning issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources indicated that heavy downpours carry a severe hazard for secondary calamities like landslides, given that recent precipitation has already pushed rivers past their alert levels and flooded low-lying neighborhoods.
