China slammed by deadly typhoon

The death toll from a powerful typhoon in China’s Zhejiang province has risen to 30, as rescuers search for another 18 missing people.

At least 30 people have been killed in China and another 18 are missing after a powerful super typhoon slammed into the country’s Zhejiang province.

Typhoon Lekima made landfall early yesterday with winds gusting to 187km/h, causing travel chaos with thousands of flights cancelled and rail operations suspended.

The typhoon damaged more than 173,000 hectares of crops and 34,000 homes in Zhejiang, provincial authorities said in estimating the economic losses at 14.57 billion yuan ($A2.9 billion), the state news agency Xinhua said.

Rescuers in China look for survivors in the rubble of damaged buildings after a landslide caused by torrential rain from Typhoon Lekima. Picture: AFP

Typhoon Lekima forced evacuations of more than a million people, including 250,000 in Shanghai, according to the country’s state broadcaster CCTV.

“Now the disaster zones are mainly in the rural-urban integration zones,” Fu Songliang, a rescue worker in Ningbo City told Reuters.

“These are low-lying areas. When the flooding from mountainous areas converges and comes down, these areas are quite seriously affected.”

Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. Picture: AFP

China’s ninth typhoon of this year, is expected to make a second landing along the coastline in Shandong province, prompting more flight cancellations and the closure of some expressways, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV said.

In Zhejiang, many of the deaths occurred about 130km north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, where a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160mm of rain within three hours, causing a landslide, Xinhua reported.

Satellite image of Super Typhoon Lekima. Picture: AFP

State media reports showed rescuers wading in waist-high waters to evacuate people from their homes, while the Ministry of Emergency Management said that more than one million people in the financial hub of Shanghai, as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, have been evacuated due to the typhoon.

Rescuers search for victims of a landslide in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Picture: Chinatopix via AP

An estimated 3200 flights were cancelled, state broadcaster CCTV reported, although some suspensions on high-speed railway lines were lifted today.

Authorities in Shanghai shut down the high-speed magnetic levitation train to Pudong International Airport. Shanghai Disneyland closed due to the storm.

Originally published as China slammed by deadly typhoon