28 dead, 15 missing after typhoon lashes eastern China

A man wearing a red helmet, left, climbs on the wreckage of a destroyed structure after a typhoon in Xiamen in southeastern China’s Fujian province Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. Typhoon Meranti, labeled the strongest storm so far this year by Chinese and Taiwanese weather authorities, made landfall in southeastern China early Thursday after previously affecting Taiwan. AP

BEIJING, China — The strongest typhoon to hit China this year has left 28 people dead and 15 others missing in the east of the country.

Typhoon Meranti made landfall early Thursday in Fujian province after winds and rains associated with it pounded Taiwan, leaving one person dead and more than 50 injured.

Authorities in Fujian said Saturday that the typhoon had left 18 people dead and 11 missing, damaged more than 18,300 houses and caused direct economic losses of more than 16.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion).

Authorities in neighboring Zhejiang province say that 10 people died and four remained unaccounted for following landslides and flash floods in rural areas.

Taiwan saw wind and rain from a second typhoon, Malakas, that caused no apparent deaths. That typhoon was also forecast to bring more storms and rains to Zhejiang and Fujian./rga