Typhoon Soudelor weakens over China mainland

BEIJING – A typhoon that lashed Taiwan dumped heavy rain and winds on the Chinese mainland on Sunday, leaving a total of 22 people dead or missing, collapsing homes and trees and cutting power to more than a million homes.

Typhoon Soudelor made landfall in China’s Fujian province late Saturday night and was downgraded into a tropical storm as it moved across the region.

Rains from the typhoon triggered mudslides in mountainous Pingyang county in Zhejiang province, north of Fujian, killing nine people and leaving three others missing, the county government said.

The Fujian Civil Affairs Department said the storm collapsed 36 houses and damaged 281 others. Authorities had evacuated more than 370,000 people and ordered around 32,000 boats back to port before the typhoon struck land.

State broadcaster showed people wading in knee-deep water in the provincial capital of Fuzhou and said some streets were submerged under 30 inches.

In Taiwan, where the typhoon made landfall Saturday, the National Fire Agency said five people died, five were missing, and a further 185 were injured.