Typhoon Saudel, the 18th typhoon of this year, weakened into a tropical storm at 17:00 on Friday in Zhouning County, east China's Fujian Province, after making landfall along the coast of neighboring Zhejiang Province twice on the day.
Sustained winds up to 75 kilometers per hour near the typhoon's center were monitored in Zhouning as it weakened and moved westward at 20 to 25 kilometers per hour.
Saudel made its first landfall along the coast of Yuhuan, a city under the jurisdiction of Taizhou City, Zhejiang, at around 08:05 in the morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 35 meters per second (Force 12) near its center, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.
Shortly afterwards, at around 09:10, the typhoon made its second landfall along the coast of Wenzhou City in Zhejiang with a maximum sustained wind speed of 33 meters per second.
Water facilities near Saudel's first landfall site were geared up to minimize its impacts, with Ganjiang Town taking emergency water-pumping operations to drain flood.
The Dongtou District in Wenzhou City experienced intense rainfall in a short period of time, causing landslides along a coastal highway.
Local authorities activated emergency response to clear debris and other operations to help reopen the highway as soon as possible.
Dongtou issued a red rainstorm warning, the highest level in the country's four-tier system, on Friday morning and the cumulative rainfall in the district reached about 109.1 millimeters between 04:00 and 10:00 that day.
Typhoon Saudel weakens into tropical storm after making landfall along China's east coast
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said Friday that the Fed's predominant focus right now should be on prices, as inflation remains above its 2-percent target.
Speaking at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, Warsh said, "On the price stability side of our mandate, the numbers are more concerning."
Warsh's remarks came as broad inflation measures have fallen from their 2022 peaks, though Warsh characterized the progress over the past two years as modest. He pointed specifically to the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, noting that "the numbers are more concerning."
While summer inflation readings were better than expected, Warsh stressed that they do not indicate a meaningful improvement in underlying trends.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge came in slightly above expectations, with the annual inflation rate holding steady at 3.7 percent, data released by the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday.
The PCE price index increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent for the month, slightly exceeding expectations, while core PCE inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, matched forecasts with a 0.2 percent monthly increase and a 3.3 percent year-over-year rise.
In contrast to the lingering inflation challenges, Warsh painted a robust picture of the broader U.S. economy.
Looking ahead, Warsh emphasized that the central bank will remain "keenly focused on market internals" and performance across various sectors. He pledged to continue tracking changes in the growth rates of corporate earnings and capital spending, as well as their follow-on effects on asset prices, business confidence, consumer income, and spending.
Following the speech, major U.S. stock market indexes remained little changed, while Treasury yields moved substantially higher as bond investors digested the hawkish undertones regarding inflation and economic strength.
Warsh says Fed should focus on prices as U.S. inflation remains above target
