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By Andy Coghlan

EXTREME storms have caused destruction and taken lives across the globe this week, with Hurricane Florence forcing millions to evacuate in the US, and Typhoon Mangkhut wreaking havoc in the Philippines and southern China.

Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

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Florence brought torrential rain to the south-eastern coastline of the US, forcing this resident of Marion, South Carolina, to wade through high floodwaters (below, bottom). In New Bern, North Carolina, two residents can just be seen paddling in a canoe through a flooded street (above). Winds unleashed by Florence ripped the steeple clean off the Elah Baptist Church in Leland, North Carolina, on 15 September (directly below).

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Gerald Herbert/AP/REX/Shutterstock

On the same day on the other side of the world, Typhoon Mangkhut began tearing through the Philippines. Marines can be seen here repairing their makeshift barracks in Cagayan, towards the northernmost tip of the country (bottom). Guandong province in southern China was also hit over the weekend – the pedestrians shown here are struggling against the wind and rain in the city of Shenzhen (top photograph). In Hong Kong, the windows were blown out from One Harbourfront, a major commercial building (below).

Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

As New Scientist went to press, Florence had caused 31 fatalities and it is thought that about 100 people have died as a result of Mangkhut.

Florence has now been downgraded to a tropical depression, but the US National Hurricane Center forecast at least two further days of excessive rainfall this week in parts of southern New York state and New England, and there are fears this could cause flash flooding. Mangkhut is continuing across southern China, but weakening.

George Calvelo/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Photographs

Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock; Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock; Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Gerald Herbert/AP/REX/Shutterstock; Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images; George Calvelo/NurPhoto via Getty Images

This article appeared in print under the headline “Storm damage”