Two dead, thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Nepartak lashes Taiwan
Hundreds of thousands of homes without power and emergency services on alert for floods and landslides
A powerful typhoon decreased in ferocity on Friday after slamming into Taiwan’s eastern coast, bringing ferocious winds and torrential rains to the area.
The storm has killed two people and injured 66 others. Planes and fishing boats were grounded, and more than 15,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
Typhoon Nepartak made landfall on Friday morning in Taitung county before weakening to a medium strength typhoon, the island’s Central Weather Bureau reported.
The typhoon’s centre was located 20km east of the city of Kaohsiung early on Friday and was moving northwestward at a speed of 13km/h, the bureau said. The typhoon was likely to continue to slow, but disaster response officials said they remain concerned that the heavy rains would trigger floods and landslides in the rugged terrain.
Li Wei-sen, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Centre spokesman, said by phone that the typhoon was packing winds of up to 163km/h.
About 390,000 households had been affected by power cuts, most of them in Pingtung and Taitung counties, according to Taiwan’s emergency management service. The island’s railway services have been suspended, while more than 600 domestic and international flights were cancelled and another 178 flights were delayed.
The typhoon was estimated to reach mainland China’s Fujian province later on Friday. China’s meteorological administration has said the typhoon is likely to make landfall in eastern China on Saturday morning.
Taiwanese authorities reported that more than 15,400 people have been evacuated from 14 counties and cities.
Taiwanese residents had been bracing for the impact of the storm. Restaurant owner Chen Mang-ning said on Thursday he had to put a lock on the rolling door of his establishment to protect the windows from strong winds.
“Yes, I am worried about it, same as everyone here,” said fisherman Chen Chun-po.
Hong Kong’s two biggest airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, said they were cancelling flights to and from Taiwan until Friday afternoon.
In the Philippine capital, Manila, and outlying provinces, classes in many schools were suspended and at least six flights, including one scheduled to come from Taiwan, were cancelled because of stormy weather and floods following monsoon downpours intensified by the typhoon, Filipino officials said.
Nepartak is a Micronesian word for a local warrior.
