The typhoon season ended with a whimper yesterday as the weakened Lekima, likely to be the last for this year, made its way toward the Taiwan Strait.
The storm spared Taiwan much of the death and destruction that characterized others during this year's typhoon season.
Last week, Nari killed more than 90 people in landslides and flash flooding. In July, Toraji claimed roughly 200 lives.
Nevertheless, three people are feared dead in the latest typhoon. Rescuers yesterday were searching for two Chinese crew members and the Taiwanese captain of a fishing boat that sank near Taichung on Tuesday.
Weather forecasters yesterday warned of torrential rain in northern Taiwan, saying that as Lekima leaves Taiwan and enters the Strait, it may absorb more water from the sea.
Though there were no reports of major damage, railway transport was interrupted in several places by rockslides or washed-out bridges.
In addition, several highways were also obstructed by rockslides, disrupting traffic. The obstructions are expected to be cleared by tomorrow.
Villagers in Sechi and Maoan in Ilan County were stranded due to blocked roadways, leaving them cut off from food supplies.
In addition, farms in Pingtung and Kaohsiung were flooded during the storm.
According to weather watchers, Lekima, the eighth typhoon to make landfall this year, weakened to a tropical storm yesterday and was heading toward China across the Taiwan Strait at 5km per hour.
As of 4:20pm yesterday, Lekima was roughly 40km northwest of Chiayi, packing sustained winds of 85km per hour and gusts up to 110km per hour. By 2pm today, the storm is expected to be roughly 130km north of Penghu.
Lekima followed closely on the heels of Nari, which battered the island on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17. In that storm, 94 died, 10 remain missing and 265 were injured.
The Central Weather Bureau earlier this week forecast that Lekima could bring heavier rainfall than Nari -- prompting fears that Taiwan was in for double the trouble. But Lekima weakened as it made landfall in Taitung, and so the accompanying rain wasn't as intense as expected.
Downpours brought by Nari flooded more than 5,000 buildings in the Taipei area.
In addition, the Taipei Railway Station was flooded and valuable equipment damaged, crippling the MRT system. The elevated Mucha line, however, was spared.
More than 36,000 tonnes of mud were cleared out in the wake of Nari. Another 401,000 tonnes of garbage were dumped after Nari flooded housing and office buildings, mostly in the Taipei area.
RSS