Severe Weather Causes Mass Evacuations in China and Heavy Damage in South Africa and US

Severe weather conditions across the globe have triggered widespread disruption, forced massive evacuations, and caused fatalities over the past week. Typhoon Saudel brought extreme torrential rainfall to south-eastern China, while severe thunderstorms struck parts of South Africa and oppressive heat indices gripped the central-southern United States.

Typhoon Saudel Triggers Massive Evacuations in South-East China

Typhoon Saudel, the seventh typhoon to impact China this year, caused heavy downpours across the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong. The storm hit shortly after Typhoon Narra brought substantial rainfall to Guangdong, Hainan, and Guangxi late last month.

In Fujian province, the city of Putian recorded 416.5mm of rainfall within a 24-hour window between Thursday and Friday, while nearby villages experienced over 500mm. Authorities in Fujian estimated that nearly 600,000 residents were evacuated from high-risk and flood-prone zones. Additionally, extreme weather impacted 128,000 people across 53 counties in Jiangxi province, leading to 9,000 emergency evacuations.

The extreme rainfall caused widespread flooding, infrastructure destruction, and landslips. In Wenzhou, Zhejiang, low-lying flash floods trapped over 2,500 students and teachers inside a school compound on Wednesday. In Putian, a river embankment collapse flattened 100 homes on Thursday, prompting the rescue of at least 1,260 people. On Saturday, a landslip in a Suichuan county village in Jiangxi killed three individuals, with nine others reported missing.

Thunderstorms Hit South Africa and Extreme Heat Sweeps Central US

In South Africa, the national weather service issued warnings across several northern and western provinces late last week. Regions in the Northern Cape and North West provinces expected rainfall totals of 75 to 100mm over the weekend, accompanied by damaging winds, heavy lightning, and hail. In Johannesburg, strong winds detached a large section of an apartment building's roof, forcing the evacuation of eight families.

Meanwhile, the central-southern plains and Mississippi valley in the United States faced oppressive heat conditions. Actual air temperatures reached the high 30s Celsius (high 90s Fahrenheit), but extreme humidity pushed heat indices to between 40C and 43C (105F to 110F). The intense heat wave is projected to persist across the US Midwest and South through the coming week.