October 3, 2005 (HDW) China - Typhoon Longwang, which means “dragon king” in Mandarin, became the third super typhoon this year to hit Taiwan and continue on to make landfall in China. The other two super typhoons of 2005 were Haitang and Talim. Longwang ploughed over Taiwan on October 2, 2005, where winds were recorded up to 230 kilometers per hour (143 mph). Longwang left one person missing and one dead in Taiwan. The storm then continued on across the Taiwan straight and struck Fujian Province in southeast China. Three people were reported killed, and 59 police cadets were missing after flood waters swept away their buildings. Hundreds of thousands more people were forced to evacuate.

The above image of the storm was captured by a NASA satellite on October 1, 2005, just as the center of the storm was hitting Taiwan. The storm can be seen making its way to southern China, where it also wrecked havoc. At the time of this picture, Longwang was still a Category 4 typhoon with sustained winds of 115 knots (132 mph). After crossing Taiwan, the storm would later weaken to a Category 1 typhoon before hitting mainland China.