Typhoon Soudelor Lashes China’s East Coast

The typhoon ripped up trees and triggered landslides in Taiwan.

Rescuers wade through floodwater at Chengli Village of Sandu Town in Ningde City, southeast China’s Fujian Province, August 9, 2015.

A powerful typhoon has killed nine people in eastern China, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes and leaving millions without power.

Texas authorities say five children and three adults have been found dead inside a Houston-area home following the arrest of a man who exchanged gunfire with police.

The typhoon also left at least 379 people injured.

The storm was moving toward the Chinese mainland and bringing tropical-storm force winds to the eastern seaboard.

A Kidd-class destroyer that was struck by an oil tanker while docked in Taichung on Saturday as Typhoon Soudelor pounded Taiwan and broke loose from its moorings did not suffer major damage, the military says.

Those killed in Taiwan included a mother and her 8-year-old daughter swept out to sea, the nation’s Central News Agency reported, adding that the girl’s twin sister is missing.

Although the National Meteorological Center (NMC) reported that Soudelor would be weakened as it moves further inland, the storm still hit China with the heaviest rains recorded in a century.

Fuzhou, the capital of the province, was hit by heavy rains and strong winds, and all flights to the city were canceled.

More than 300 trains linked to Fujian have been cancelled, while China’s three biggest airlines have also scrapped more than 60 domestic flights.

On Friday afternoon, marine police rescued 55 university students and teachers trapped on a small island where they had been attending a summer camp, after strong gales stopped ferry services, Xinhua said.

According to State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co., the storm affected the power supply of more than two million households, before being restored at 630,000 of them Sunday morning.

Television footage trees uprooted and power poles toppled over, a moped being swept into the air by wind and shipping containers piled on top of each other at a port. More than 39 inches of rain fell on parts of Taiwan, with more still possible as the last remnants of the storm moved out, CNN reported.

President Barack Obama declared the Northern Marianas a disaster area and ordered federal aid to help the U.S. territory.