At least 22 people were killed and a dozen others were missing after Typhoon Lekima triggered a landslide in eastern China.
The cyclone left a trail of destruction in its wake and caused the evacuation of over one million people.
The enormous cyclone made landfall in the province of Zhejiang early on Saturday. As it barreled inland, it caused a natural dam to collapse, leading to the deadly landslide which took place around 130km north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, CCTV reported.
Super Typhoon Lekima loading in our city pic.twitter.com/EKfCkKlSEf
— Helen Huang (@helenhuang03) August 10, 2019
Authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 800,000 people from Zhejiang province and a further 250,000 from Shanghai. High winds and heavy rains battered the financial hub on Saturday afternoon.
Chinese media is reporting that around 200 houses across Zhejiang have collapsed and 66,300 hectares (163,830 acres) of farmland have been destroyed. Nearly three million households suffered power blackouts due to fallen electricity lines.
【快讯】“利奇马”肆虐浙江温岭市
8月10日农历七月初十,台风“利奇马”已于8月10日1时45分前后在浙江省温岭市城南镇登陆,登陆时强度为超强台风级,中心附近最大风力16级,相当于52米/秒,中心最低气压930百帕。
风王“利奇马”登陆温岭后,大荆狂风暴雨⋯⋯(未完待續)一 pic.twitter.com/JzIsli1yuX
— 王實的世界 (@wangshi77) August 10, 2019
It also caused the cancelation of more than 3,000 flights at airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. Shanghai Disneyland was also shut due to the storm.
The typhoon is predicted to hit Jiangsu province early on Sunday morning before veering over the Yellow Sea and continuing north, where it will then make landfall again at Shandong province, CCTV said.
A total of 3023 flights have been cancelled by Chinese airlines and some airports in eastern China have been temporally closed on Sat due to gale and rainstorm brought by the typhoon #Lekima. pic.twitter.com/x2cgQ8FvGi
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) August 10, 2019