Powerful Typhoon Haikui slammed into Taiwan on Sunday, where authorities evacuated thousands of people and warned of high winds, flooding and huge waves. Haikui, the first typhoon to pass directly over Taiwan in four years, has sustained winds of 154 km/h with gusts reaching 190 km/h. The typhoon made landfall around 3:40 p.m. (0740 GMT) in Taitung, a mountainous region in the east of the island. “It’s a bit earlier than expected because it’s moving faster,” Yeh Chih-chun, a forecaster at the Central Meteorological Bureau in Taiwan, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In the Taitung area, residents hide in darkness and away from windows. Huge gusts of wind blow up uprooted trees and water tanks torn from their bases, according to an AFP journalist on the spot. Across the island, more than 21,000 homes were without power. Most of them had power again by mid-afternoon, but about 9,000 of them were still without power when Haikui made landfall.
The last major storm to hit the island before Haikui was Typhoon Bailu, which killed one person in 2019. Authorities on Sunday reported two minor injuries in eastern Hualien County, where a tree fell on a car.
The typhoon “is expected to pose a considerable threat to most parts of Taiwan with wind, rain and waves,” Deputy Director of Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Bureau Fong Chin earlier warned during a press conference. -tzu.
According to the organization, Haikui will cross the south of the island from east to west on Sunday evening before moving away over the Taiwan Strait by Monday morning, towards mainland China. The typhoon led to the evacuation of around 4,000 people living in the most exposed areas, according to the authorities.
More than 200 domestic flights were canceled on Sunday, and businesses closed in most parts of the east and south of the island. “I remind people to prepare for the typhoon, keep them safe, avoid dangerous outings and activities,” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said.
The streets of Hualien, battered by incessant rain, were deserted on Sunday morning. In a fishing port in Yilan county (northeast of the island), huge waves crashed on the shore.
Strong winds and torrential rain plunged Taitung County into a kind of whiteout, with no visibility.
“I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in a typhoon. What violence, this wind! exclaims Huang Jun-tong, owner of a seafood restaurant, making sure his establishment is well caulked. And yet yesterday everything was so calm: it didn’t feel like a typhoon was approaching. »
“I think this time it’s serious,” said Chang Jhi-ming, a 58-year-old retired mechanic. It is just beginning. The wind has just started to blow really hard and you can already see some trees falling. »
The army has mobilized soldiers and equipment, such as amphibious vehicles and inflatable boats, in areas of the island where the greatest damage is feared. But Haikui is expected to be less powerful than Saola, which raised high alerts in Hong Kong and southern China before degrading into a tropical storm on Saturday.
