On Camera: Moment Three-Storey Building Collapses Into Raging Floodwaters

China's southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong braced for further torrential rain on Friday (September 4), after severe downpours linked to Typhoon Saudel triggered flooding in urban and rural areas, swamping vehicles and causing a three-story brick building to collapse. Local authorities have evacuated students via boats and shut waterlogged schools, suspended public transport and enforced emergency flood protocols across multiple coastal areas. Saudel made its third landfall along the coast of Fujian on Thursday (September 3) morning after intensifying again over the South China Sea. Hundreds of thousands of people have been relocated across Zhejiang and nearby provinces since late August, including more than 83,000 residents evacuated in Fujian alone as Saudel tracked inland and soaked surrounding areas. It is the seventh typhoon to hit China this year and the third to strike the city of Yuhuan in eastern Zhejiang in less than two months. The meteorological sequence is extremely rare, according to China's Meteorological Administration, and one that experts say is closely linked to El Niño. During an El Niño year, the Western Pacific subtropical high is exceptionally strong and positioned further north, guiding typhoons along a northwest trajectory directly toward China's eastern coast. The United Nations warned on Thursday that the El Niño was set to intensify further into 2027 and could be the strongest ever, raising the risk of prolonged extreme weather.