Typhoon Sarika threatens flooded Vietnam, China with torrential rain, strong winds

HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Typhoon Sarika is threatening Vietnam with winds and torrential rain after more than 31 people died there due to unrelated flooding earlier in the week, forecasters said. The storm system also is targeting China.

Recent rainfall in Vietnam has flooded more than 100,000 homes ahead of Sarika's arrival, killing dozens. Sarika is moving northwest with maximum sustained winds of 78 mph.

Sarika will move through the Gulf of Tonkin and toward the Vietnamese and Chinese border. The storm is expected to make landfall in northeastern Vietnam on Wednesday, AccuWeather reported. Sarika weakened after making landfall in China's Hainan island province but is still expected to cause flooding, as well as structural damage, in Hainan, Vietnam, and mainland China.

At least 8 inches of rain is expected to fall in Hainan, while up to 12 inches of rain is expected to fall in northern Vietnam and southern China -- increasing the risk of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, AccuWeather added. Sarika is also blamed to have caused the deaths of at least two people over the weekend when it passed through the Philippines, where it also knocked out power to

Meanwhile, Typhoon Haima, which currently has maximum sustained winds of 114 mph, is expected to make landfall in the Philippines' Cagayan province on Thursday, possibly as a super typhoon.