Powerful Typhoon Champi swept across northeastern Taiwan. One person was killed, more than 500 were injured, and tens of thousands of homes lost power. The storm is now heading toward China and Japan.
Champi was briefly a super typhoon, with winds of nearly 300 km/h. As it approached Taiwan it weakened, but its winds still reached up to about 185 km/h. Yilan County was hit hardest, with about 650 mm of rain falling since Thursday. Across the island, trees were toppled, power lines were downed and streets were flooded in places.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated before the typhoon arrived. Nearly 1,000 flights were canceled on Friday, and another 259 on Saturday. Most stores in the north and center of the island were closed for two days. On Saturday, about 56,000 households were still without power.
The typhoon is moving north. On Japan’s Okinawa, two people were injured, thousands of homes were without power and dozens of flights were canceled. Chinese authorities are warning of heavy rain in Shanghai and in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. In Shanghai, some trains were halted and tens of thousands of people were evacuated.
KN
