Typhoon Soudelor kills 14 in China; 100 missing, 7 dead in Taiwan

Bringing record rainfall, Typhoon Soudelor killed 14 people and left four others missing in eastern China, local officials said Sunday.

All of the victims were buried in house collapses or landslides or washed away by flash floods, authorities in Zhejiang province told the state-run New China News Agency. The city of Wenzhou tallied 12 dead and four missing. Two others died in the nearby city of Lishui.

Several counties reported more than 27 inches of rain over 2 1/2 days, the most in 120 years, New China News Agency said. About 188,000 people in Zhejiang were forced to relocate at least temporarily. More than 200 houses were destroyed.

Provincial authorities put the economic losses, including damage to crops, at more than $600 million.

Soudelor made landfall on mainland China late Saturday after raking across Taiwan, where it killed seven and injured more than 400. It hit Fujian province first, then moved into Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.

Tourist sites were closed and hundreds of flights were canceled on the mainland. Three airports in Fujian were closed. Six highways were reported shut and high-speed rail service was temporarily suspended.

In Taiwan, authorities launched a search for 100 missing people in Wulai district in New Taipei City, the Central News Agency reported. Officials said the residents of Xiaoyi village, a mountainous part of the district, have not been heard from since Saturday. Firefighters and other rescue personnel have been flown to the area to look for the residents, New Taipei authorities said.

New Taipei fire department official Chen Chung-yueh told the agency that homes in the district had “disappeared” during heavy rains and strong winds caused by the typhoon.

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