Typhoon Soudelor: strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge expected to hit south-east Asia

In the news this week is Typhoon Soudelor (formerly a Super Typhoon but now downgraded) which is expected to make landfall on Saturday and bring destructive winds, heavy rainfall, and a damaging storm surge for parts of south-east Asia, namely Taiwan and China.

Soudelor has already wreaked havoc in Saipan Island (east of Taiwan), as shown in the video footage below:

On Monday (3rd August) Soudelor reached peak winds of over 180 mph, making it the strongest typhoon so far this season. According to NASA, yesterday (5th August) Soudelor’s sustained winds measured over 120 mph, although these winds are likely to ease slightly as the typhoon nears landfall.