Typhoon Fitow

Typhoon Fitow, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Quedan, was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in mainland China during October since 2007. The twenty-first named storm of the extremely active 2013 Pacific typhoon season, Fitow developed on September 29 to the east of the Philippines. It initially tracked north-northwestward, gradually intensifying into a tropical storm and later to typhoon status, with winds of at least 120 km/h (75 mph). Fitow later turned west-northwest due to an intensifying ridge to the east, bringing the typhoon over the Ryukyu Islands, with peak winds of 140 km/h (85 mph) on October 5. The next day, the typhoon made landfall China in Fuding, Fujian Province, before eventually quickly weakening over land and dissipating on October 7.

Across its path, Fitow prompted many airlines to cancel flights and caused other transport disruptions. In Japan, the typhoon damaged 1,464 houses and left about 6,800 households without power on Miyako Island. Heavy rainfall in Taiwan flooded houses and caused mudslides that closed two highways. The damage was the heaviest in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in China, which was near where Fitow made landfall. In Zhejiang, total rainfall peaked at 803 mm (31.6 in) in Yuyao, which flooded 70% of the town with up to 3 m (10 ft) of waters; as a result, the city received the worst flooding in a century, which disrupted aid distribution in the storm's aftermath. Across China, Fitow damaged about 95,000 houses and left at least 159,000 other houses without power. The storm also flooded about 75,000 hectares (190,000 acres) of fields and killed thousands of fish in fish farms. Damages in the country reached CN¥63.14 billion (US$10.3 billion), and along with CN¥6 billion (US$1 billion) from insured losses, the total economic damages were CN¥69.14 billion (US$10.4 billion), making it, at the time, the costliest tropical cyclone on record until it was surpassed by Typhoon Doksuri in 2023 and Typhoon Yagi in 2024. An additional 12 fatalities were also reported, with eight of them related to electrocutions.