Typhoon Soudelor Hits China After Battering Taiwan With 100mph Winds

China is enduring torrential rains and winds of 100mph after a powerful typhoon hit the southeast mainland on Saturday.

Typhoon Soudelor had earlier lashed Taiwan, knocking out the power for millions of homes, downing trees, traffic lights, power lines, and leaving six people dead and four missing.

The typhoon hit the city of Putian in Fujian province late on Saturday night and was expected to move across the region, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Residents gather to see huge waves stirred up by strong wind as Typhoon Soudelor draws near the mainland of China in Wenling, on Saturday

The storm earlier caused more than 3 million households in Taiwan to lose electricity, with streets strewn with fallen trees. All 279 domestic flights on the island were cancelled on Saturday, as well as at least 37 international flights. At least 101 people were injured in the storm.

An 8-year-old girl and her mother died when they were swept out to sea Thursday from a beach on the east coast, Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported. The girl's twin sister remains missing.

Other casualties included a firefighter who was killed and another injured after being hit by a drunken driver as they attempted to move a fallen tree in the island's south.

A man holds his bike as typhoon Soudelor hits Taipei on 8 August

The center of the storm made landfall in eastern Taiwan before daybreak on Saturday. By mid-morning, Soudelor was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said.

The typhoon began weakening later that day with top winds of up to 144 kph (89 mph) while moving away from the island in a northwesterly direction.

Strong winds and heavy rains were expected to continue in Taiwan.

Authorities in southeast China evacuated about 163,000 people and ordered around 32,000 ships back to port ahead of the typhoon, Xinhua reported. More than 7,000 soldiers and police were on standby, provincial authorities said.

A mother holds her children in strong gusts from Typhoon Soudelor in Taipei

The provincial capital of Fuzhou was being battered by heavy rain and strong winds, and all flights to the city were canceled, Xinhua said. The neighboring province of Jiangxi also issued a typhoon alert.

Heavy rains were forecast through Sunday morning in the northern part of Fujian.

Even before the storm made landfall, strong winds caused power outages to more than 1.41 million household in the province, Xinhua said.

On Friday afternoon, marine police rescued 55 university students and teachers trapped on a small island where they had been attending a summer camp, after strong gales stopped ferry services, Xinhua said.