Typhoon Champi Shuts Taiwan: Schools and Businesses Close as Evacuations Rise
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Most shops and schools were shut across Taiwan on Friday as Typhoon Champi neared the island, forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes ahead of the storm, France 24 reported. The typhoon is expected to sweep past Taiwan’s northeast as it moves towards China and Japan, triggering the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the region, the outlet said.
At least one person has been killed in Taiwan after being swept away by waves whipped up by the typhoon, authorities told France 24, and dozens of others were injured. BBC News reported that the storm injured 171 people and forced 1,000 others to evacuate, while France 24 said more than 1,200 people had been evacuated from their homes ahead of Champi. Thousands of military personnel are on standby to assist with rescue efforts, France 24 added.
Champi was briefly a super typhoon as it crossed the ocean and at its peak earlier this week it was the planet’s strongest storm of the year so far, the BBC reported. It has since weakened and was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 176 kilometres (109 miles) per hour on Friday afternoon according to the latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, cited by France 24, while the BBC said Champi was packing wind gusts of 191km/h (119mph) on Friday afternoon. The storm is the latest in a string of intense typhoons as a Super El Niño heats up the Pacific Ocean and fuels storms, the BBC said.
Heavy rain, strong winds and giant waves are forecast for Friday and Saturday, with northeastern Taiwan to be hardest hit, the Central Weather Administration said, according to France 24, which reported the storm could dump up to 90 centimetres (35 inches) of rain from Thursday to Saturday. “As it approaches Taiwan’s northeastern tip … the typhoon may slow down. If it slows down, its impact will last longer,” Central Weather Administration administrator Lu Kuo-chen told a briefing, as quoted by France 24. “People should be aware that the strong winds and extremely heavy rain will continue into the first half of tomorrow,” Lu added.
Work and classes were cancelled for the day across nearly all of Taiwan, leaving streets quiet as most locals hunkered down at home to wait out the storm, France 24 said. Weather agencies in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan forecast that the eye of the storm is expected to pass without making landfall in Taiwan, the BBC reported, but a forecaster in Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration told Reuters that landfall could not be ruled out completely — especially if the storm “stalls, loops or wobbles from side to side” as it approaches.
After passing Taiwan’s north-eastern tip and the Okinawa islands in southern Japan, Champi is expected to hover over the waters off China’s eastern coast before curving farther to the north-east towards Japan’s main island, the BBC reported. Euronews video coverage from the island documented travel chaos and school closures as the storm closed in.