Two dead, dozens hurt as super typhoon brings rain and 120mph winds

Super Typhoon Nepartak brought chaos to Taiwan on Friday, killing two people, injuring dozens and forcing more than 15,000 people to flee their homes. The storm brought torrential rain and the strongest winds in over a century to the island, shutting offices and schools and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Winds battered the island at close to 200 kmh (120 mph), the strongest recorded since 1901. The dead included a soldier who fell into the sea off Dongyin Island and a man who drowned off a beach in Hualien county.

The wind is very strong. Many hut roofs and signs on the street have been blown off.

One Taitung resident

The storm weakened as it passed over the island before leaving southwest Tainan City and was estimated to reach mainland China’s Fujian province later on Friday. In Taiwan, more than 15,000 people were moved from their homes which were prone to landslides or flooding and about 3,600 of them were in shelters. Nearly 4,000 people evacuated were in New Taipei City, which includes Wulai, a popular hot spring area near the capital which was cut off for days after Typhoon Soudelor ravaged Taiwan last August. About 430,000 households were affected by power cuts but half of them had electricity restored in the afternoon.

nepartak