Typhoon Champi Heads Toward China After Battering Taiwan
TAIPEI,: Powerful Typhoon Champi moved toward China on Saturday after lashing Taiwan and Japan’s southernmost islands, leaving thousands of homes without electricity and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.One person was killed and more than 600 others were injured in Taiwan. Authorities had moved over 5,000 people from their homes to safety ahead of…
TAIPEI,: Powerful Typhoon Champi moved toward China on Saturday after lashing Taiwan and Japan’s southernmost islands, leaving thousands of homes without electricity and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
One person was killed and more than 600 others were injured in Taiwan. Authorities had moved over 5,000 people from their homes to safety ahead of the storm’s arrival.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the storm weakened as its wind speed dropped to 102 kph. While crossing the Pacific in recent days, Champi briefly reached super typhoon strength, with maximum sustained winds of about 300 kph.
Taiwan began issuing warnings on Thursday and put extensive precautionary measures in place. The storm uprooted trees, brought down power lines and caused brief flooding in some areas. More than 340,000 households lost power, though officials said electricity has been restored to over 90 percent of them.
As the typhoon pulled away from the island’s northeast, most shops in northern and central Taiwan remained closed for a second day. Wu Wan-hua, an official at the Central Weather Administration, told a briefing that high waves and strong gusts remained a threat along coastal areas. The agency said the storm looped near northeastern Yilan County, where at least 65 centimeters (about 26 inches) of rain has fallen since Thursday.
