Typhoon Haikui, which swept through Taiwan, knocked down hundreds of trees and damaged roads before downgrading Monday morning to a severe storm and moving towards southern China.
At first, it seemed to move away from Taiwan before making landfall again on Monday morning near Kaohsiung, in the Southwest. It was then downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it headed for the Taiwan Strait.
No deaths were reported, but damage was seen in Taitung, a mountainous and relatively sparsely populated county in the east of the island, which suffered the full force of the typhoon on Sunday.
“I’ve lived here for a long time and I’ve never experienced such gusts of wind,” said Chen Hai-feng, 55, village chief of Donghe, who was on the job early Monday to help remove trees lying on a road.
“It swept right through us,” said Mr. Chen who, contrary to general opinion, found this storm more powerful than previous ones.
Employees were busy Monday moving with diggers the branches of felled trees and broken electrical cables that littered a rain-soaked road.
Further north, in the coastal township of Changbin, workers hauled huge blocks to a coastal road that partly collapsed under the force of the waves.
Heavy orange barriers have been installed to prevent cars from skidding on slippery roads.
Haikui is the first typhoon to make landfall in four years. By the time it hit Sunday afternoon, more than 7,000 people had been evacuated across the island, particularly in mountainous areas prone to landslides. Hundreds of flights have been canceled and businesses and businesses have closed.
More than 217,000 homes were temporarily without power on Sunday. Monday morning, 11,000 remained without power.
Schools and businesses were still closed in 14 cities due to torrential rains.
During the night, “the heart of the typhoon almost revolved around” the major port city of Kaohsiung as it moved along the coast, “and it gradually weakened,” said a forecaster from the Central Bureau of Meteorology in Taiwan.
At midday, the storm was located southwest of Penghu Island, off Taiwan, but torrential rains and strong winds persisted to the south and northeast.
In scenic Hualien County, waterfalls tumbled down the lush cliffs of Taiwan’s eastern seaboard. Market vendors in Keelung, a northern port city surrounded by mountains, braved the rain to sell their fruit.
In Kaohsiung County, the local government reported hundreds of toppled trees and flooding in dozens of localities.
Authorities say nearly 80 people were injured in the typhoon. These are mainly minor injuries caused by falling trees and car accidents.
09/04/2023 10:11:39 – Taitung (Taiwan) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
