Taiwanese authorities said nearly 80 people were injured when Typhoon Haikui hit the island, forcing 7,000 to be evacuated from high-risk areas.
According to authorities, the vast majority of those injured sustained only minor injuries caused by falling trees, being uprooted by high winds or car accidents.
The worst affected area was Taitung, a mountainous and relatively sparsely populated area in eastern Taiwan, where a coastal road was partially destroyed by the force of the waves.
In the eye wall of #typhoon #haiku in Chenggang #Taiwan pic.twitter.com/yE9TbzwUqO
—James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) September 3, 2023
Haikui, the first typhoon to pass directly across Taiwan in four years, forced authorities to evacuate more than 7,000 people from high-risk areas in the east of the island and suspend operations on at least three rail lines.
At least 264 flights were canceled and schools and businesses closed, while those in 14 cities in Taiwan remained closed due to continued torrential rain.
More than 217,000 homes were temporarily without power on Sunday and 58,000 were still without electricity this morning.
| LATEST: Strong winds hit Taitung County in Taiwan due to the Haikui typhoon. pic.twitter.com/y4Q3mX9wKw
– World Alert (@WorldAlert2) September 4, 2023
After crossing eastern Taiwan, Haikui approached the island’s southeast on Monday, next to the port city of Kaohsiung, at a time when the storm had already lost strength and was classified as a tropical storm.
Still, according to local media, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third-largest city, roads have been flooded and tree-covered streets uprooted by maximum sustained winds of 101 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 126 kilometers per hour.
If the Haikui continues its westerly course, it is expected to cross the South China Sea on Monday towards Fujian or Guangdong provinces in eastern China.
Interior of #Taiwan shot as #typhoon #haiku landed a few hours ago pic.twitter.com/ETsqy8jgZC
– Dharmendra Mishra (@dharm_mishra82) September 3, 2023
The Chinese region of Macau issued a warning signal 1 at 4 a.m. Monday (Sunday 9 p.m. in Lisbon) for the approach of Haikui, 28 hours after the last alert due to super typhoon Saola was lowered.
The warning scale for tropical storms is formed by signals 1, 3, 8, 9 and 10, the emission of which depends on the proximity of the storm and the intensity of the wind.
Macau has issued another Warning Signal 1 just 28 hours after the last warning signal due to the passage of Super Typhoon Saola was lowered.
As in mainland China and in the neighboring Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong, Macau has even issued the maximum alert level, level 10, due to Saola, registering 250 people in emergency shelters and injuring five.
Source: DN
