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Death toll from Typhoon Lekima in China rises to 30

Rescuers search in the rubble of damaged buildings after Typhoon Lekima in Wenzhou, in China’s Zhejiang province.STR/AFP/Getty Images/AFP/Getty Images

BEIJING — The death toll from a typhoon sweeping across China’s east coast rose to 30 Sunday, with at least 18 missing, after downpours forced more than a million to leave their homes, the state news media reported. Nearly 5 million people in Zhejiang province have been affected by Typhoon Lekima, which made landfall early Saturday, the reports said. Many of the deaths occurred near Wenzhou, when the collapse of a natural dam set off a flash flood.

The typhoon, with winds of up to 116 miles per hour, caused major disruption, with thousands of flights canceled and trains suspended. In Zhejiang, the typhoon damaged 34,000 homes, said Xinhua, the state news agency. Officials in Linhai cited the worst flooding there in 70 years, with water as high as 36 feet.

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