TAIPEI, Taiwan — Fast-moving Typhoon Soudelor headed towards China Saturday after walloping Taiwan and leaving 10 people dead or missing on the island.
Packing winds of more than 100-miles-per-hour, Soudelor triggered landslides when it hit Taiwan at dawn. Thousands of troops and rescue workers were deployed and around 3 million people lost power.
Six people were killed and four missing Saturday afternoon, according to The Associated Press. A total of 101 people were hurt in Taiwan.
While the island’s residents are used to typhoons, many told NBC News that Soudelor was one of the worst they’d seen. People said tall buildings swayed as they were hit by the strong gusts of wind, although the glass-covered Taipei 101, the world’s second tallest building, emerged unscathed from the gloom.
“A tree broke, and fell on my car. My window broke and I have no power. It was a bad night for me,” fitness coach Wei Che Sun told NBC News. “Last night I can’t sleep. The window shook all night. I was very scared.”
All 279 domestic flights were canceled Saturday, as well as at least 37 international flights.
By lunchtime in Taipei, the power of the storm had reduced just enough for people to venture, cautiously, back onto streets covered with debris.
The slightly weaker but still-dangerous typhoon was threatening mainland China Saturday evening.
Authorities in southeast China ordered the evacuation of more than 163,000 people and ships back to port ahead of the typhoon, which was expected to hit Fujian province at night.
More than 7,000 soldiers and police were on standby, provincial authorities said.
Ian Williams