Typhoon Nepartak batters China's coast, killing at least 2

In this July 9, 2016 photo, a villager walks around a destroyed house, after torrential rainfall brought by typhoon Nepartak, in Lingcuo village of Xindu Township in Putian, southeast China's Fujian Province. Typhoon Nepartak weakened to a strong tropical storm Saturday as it lashed China's east coast, bringing powerful winds and heavy rains that toppled houses and inundated roads. (Zhang Guojun/Xinhua News Agency via AP) (The Associated Press)

BEIJING – Officials in China's southeastern Fujian province say two people are dead, with 17 others missing, after Typhoon Nepartak battered the coast with heavy rain and strong winds that toppled homes and triggered landslides.

Fujian's water resources department said Sunday that more than 438,000 people have been relocated. Hundreds of flights and trains have been canceled, while damaged power stations have left swaths of the province without electricity.

Nepartak, the first typhoon of the season, weakened into a strong tropical storm hours after making landfall in Fujian on Saturday. Unusually heavy rain has pounded southern China in recent months, triggering severe flooding along rivers, including the Yangtze.

The government said Friday that 164 people have been killed by floods, hail and landslides since June 30.