Typhoon Kalmaegi Triggers Flooding In China's Yunnan Province, Trapping 395 Students, Teachers In School

Hundreds of students and their teachers are trapped inside a school building in China’s southwestern Yunnan province due to flooding triggered by Typhoon Kalmaegi. The typhoon, which hit the region Wednesday, follows another one in July, which was the strongest storm to hit China in decades.

The students and teachers -- totaling 395 in number -- are trapped inside Babu Township Middle School, which is partially submerged, according to the Malipo county government in the country’s south, according to Xinhua, a state-run news agency. Nearly 100 soldiers are reportedly trying to rescue those trapped inside as water levels in the Babu River, which flows nearby, rose more than four feet above the warning level.

Typhoon Kalmaegi has so far killed seven people and has left one missing. More than 170 flights were cancelled Tuesday as the typhoon progressed toward China and more than 4,300 fishing boats were called back, Xinhua reported Tuesday. On Monday, local officials said that they had moved more than 20,000 residents to temporary settlements, ahead of the typhoon.

Ramassun, which hit China in July, was the strongest typhoon to hit China in four decades. The storm, which killed 62 people and left many homeless, moved in from the Philippines where it had destroyed nearly 7,000 houses in the region, forcing more than half a million people to take refuge in evacuation centers.