Torrential rains unleashed by Typhoon Saudel have battered Ningde in east China's Fujian Province since Tuesday, causing floods, trapping residents and damaging roads across the city.
Saudel, the 18th typhoon of this year, made its third landfall on the coast of Fujian on Thursday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 23 meters per second near its center, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.
In Fuding, a county-level city under Ningde, 24-hour precipitation exceeded 400 millimeters in some areas, flooding roads and communities.
In the first 14 hours on Wednesday, the city's fire and rescue brigade responded to over 120 emergency calls, rescuing 43 trapped residents and evacuating 115 others.
In Zherong County of Ningde, widespread downpours over the past two days have triggered slope failures and collapses, cutting off multiple sections of national and provincial highways.
Local authorities and emergency crews have rushed to the sites to direct traffic, clear debris, and repair roads.
"This road section is near Chuping Town's Chuping Village and Zhengjiayang Village, leading to the town center. A mudslide has left about 6,000 cubic meters of debris on the road," said Guo Jiageng, a local official.
Several rural roads across the county have also suffered waterlogging and mudslides, prompting emergency responses to drain floodwater and clear debris, with priorities given to crucial routes for rescue operations.
Heavy rains trap residents, damage roads in Fujian
Russia claimed on Wednesday that its forces had seized a strategic settlement in the Kharkiv region, while Ukraine denied the claim, saying fierce fighting was still underway in the area.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a briefing Wednesday that its forces had used air-launched high-precision weapons and attack drones to carry out group strikes on logistics centers, ports, maritime vessels and energy infrastructure serving the Ukrainian armed forces.
The ministry also said that Russian forces had taken control of Sviatohirsk in the Donetsk region and the settlement of Kozacha Lopan in the Kharkiv region over the past day.
On the same day, Ukraine's 14th Army Corps denied Russia's claim that it had seized Kozacha Lopan, saying the area remains under Ukrainian control.
The situation in Kozacha Lopan is tense, and the battlefield is dynamic, the Ukrainian side said, adding that its forces are holding designated lines and conducting active defense operations as fierce fighting continues.
Located in the northern Kharkiv region, Kozacha Lopan serves as a major logistics hub and a key transportation node for Ukrainian forces.
In a separate development, Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration, reported on Thursday that a Russian strike in the early hours had wounded 17 people, including three children. All the injured have received professional medical treatment, Lysak said.
The strike damaged a high-rise apartment building and several vehicles in the city.
Russia has not yet commented on the Odesa attack.
Russia claims control of Kharkiv settlement; Ukraine denies
