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Story highlights
- Typhoon Soudelor makes landfall on the east coast of Taiwan early Saturday morning
- A girl and her mother are dead, and the girl's sister is missing, after they were swept out to sea, a news agency says
- Thousands of military personnel have been deployed to aid evacuations
(CNN)Typhoon Soudelor made landfall Saturday morning just north of the Taiwanese city of Hualien on the east coast of the island, bringing fierce winds and torrential rain.
Forecasters had predicted the storm would have maximum sustained winds at landfall of about 125 mph (200 kph), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.
Authorities in Taiwan had deployed more than 35,000 military personnel to help relocate residents of vulnerable areas as Soudelor made its way across the Pacific Ocean.
Parts of Northern Taiwan have already picked up over 12 inches (300 millimeters) of rain in the 24 hours ahead of the storm's approach, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.
As of Friday midnight, some 82,000 homes were without power, according to Taiwan Power Company.
Schools and government offices in some areas were closed Friday for all or part of the day. Taiwanese airlines have announced flight adjustments, canceling a number of domestic and international flights for Saturday, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. Railways have likewise suspended high speed and regular train services, said the Agency.
The Central Weather Bureau has warned 16 cities and counties they're likely to experience intense rain and powerful winds from Soudelor.
Earlier this week, Soudelor became the strongest storm on the planet so far this year, with peak winds at 180 mph (290 kph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
2 dead, 1 missing after being swept out to sea
A 7-year-old girl and her mother died, and the girl's twin sister remained missing, after they were swept out to sea Thursday by swells that might have been caused by the typhoon's approach, according to the Yilan County Fire Bureau.
Another 8-year-old girl survived and was pulled from the waves by rescue workers, the Taiwan Central News Agency said. The group was dragged out to sea from shallow waters at a beach in the northeastern county of Yilan.
Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
A man wades through a flooded street in Ningde, China, on Sunday, August 9. Soudelor made landfall Saturday night in the city of Putian, in China's southern Fujian province. More than 185,000 people moved to higher ground, Xinhua reported. The typhoon weakened as it moved inland toward the northwest.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Rescuers stand by a flooded area in Ningde, China, on August 9.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Tree branches and other debris lie under a bridge in Taipei, Taiwan, as a result of floods caused by Typhoon Soudelor. The storm brought widespread destruction to Taiwan after making landfall there in the early hours of Saturday.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Piles of debris left by Typhoon Soudelor's heavy rain and flooding lie under the Zhongzheng Bridge as it crosses the Xindian River in Taipei.
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Water and mud flow around residential buildings in Xinbei City, Taiwan, on Saturday, August 8.
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Residents gather to see huge waves stirred up by Typhoon Soudelor in Wenling, China, as the storm draws near the mainland on August 8.
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Trees torn down by strong wind are seen on the road in Jinjiang, China, on August 8.
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A young boy finds a mother cat nursing two kittens as he searches through the storm-damaged remains of his home on August 8 in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.
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Emergency rescue personnel dig a man from a mudslide caused by Typhoon Soudelor in Xindian, New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Saturday, August 8.
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Emergency rescue personnel carry children past cars crushed by a mudslide in New Taipei City on August 8.
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Metal sheeting lies on a Taipei road after the arrival of Typhoon Soudelor early on August 8.
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A basket stadium is flooded by the Jingmei River on August 8. More than 3 feet of rain fell in parts of Taiwan Saturday, CNN Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said.
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A man rides past blown-down motorcycles as Typhoon Soudelor hits Taipei on August 8.
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A fisherman walks on a pier in Ningde, China, on Friday, August 7.
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NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Typhoon Soudelor on August 7 as it approached Taiwan.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Two women battle the winds from the approaching typhoon in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 7.
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Taiwanese coast guard personnel block off coastal walkways in Keelung, Taiwan, on August 7.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Surfers remove surf boards from a beach in Yilan County, Taiwan, Thursday, August 6.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
Fishing boats are secured in a port in Yilan County, Taiwan, on August 6.
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Photos: Typhoon Soudelor
The crew of the international space station spotted Typhoon Soudeloron on August 5 as the storm moved through the western Pacific.
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CNN Meteorologist Tom Sater warned that communities in low-lying areas of Taiwan's rugged eastern coast are at risk of a storm surge, flooding and landslides. Over the course of the storm, the risks from flooding and landslides are potentially greater than the risks from storm surge or wind, which will be diminished by Taiwan's mountainous terrain, said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
After Taiwan, Soudelor will churn across the sea to mainland China. The storm is forecast to weaken by then but is still predicted to pack hurricane-strength winds when it makes landfall late Saturday.
Nearly 5,000 people, most of them working in the fishing industry, have been moved to safer areas in Fujian province, which is expected to take a direct hit from the typhoon, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Soudelor has already wreaked havoc in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, passing through earlier this week and disrupting water and electricity services. On Wednesday, The White House declared Saipan a disaster zone. The Navy announced that it will send the USS Ashland to provide relief to the island.
The West Pacific Basin has seen 10 typhoons so far in 2015.
Of those, five have reached super-typhoon strength, meaning sustained winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). That total is higher than the average of four for an entire year.
