Typhoon Megi left four people dead and 268 injured, while 11,559 people had been evacuated from disaster-prone areas as of 7pm yesterday, the Central Emergency Operations Center said.
The center of Megi made landfall near Hualien City at about 2pm yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.
By 9:30pm, the typhoon’s eye was hovering over Penghu in the Taiwan Strait, moving west-southwest at 20kph, with a radius of 250km.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
The typhoon was packing gusts of up to 180kph, the bureau said.
Wind speed in Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) reached level 17 on the Beaufort scale before Megi made landfall, bureau forecaster Luo Ya-ying (羅雅尹) said.
Wind speed in Yilan City and Hualien County reached level 15 and level 14 respectively, Luo said, adding that wind speed reached level 15 in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲) and level 14 in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋).
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Wind speed in Taipei reached level 13, with sustained winds that measured between level 10 and level 12, she added.
Strong winds brought by the typhoon caused a tour bus carrying 31 people to topple sideways on a northbound lane of National Freeway No. 3 near the Changhua Interchange, injuring eight passengers, the Directorate-General of Highways said.
Twenty-nine passengers on the bus were Japanese tourists who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday and were scheduled to return to Japan today, the Tourism Bureau said.
One of the passengers sustained significant injuries and was under observation in an intensive care unit, the Tourism Bureau said.
Another tourist sustained multiple fractures, while the other six sustained minor injuries, the Tourism Bureau said, adding that Taipei-based New Sunshine Travel Service Co (陽達旅行社), which organized the tour, had found accommodations for the rest of the tourists in Taichung’s Plaza International Hotel.
Part of scaffolding around the Le Meridien Taichung hotel collapsed due to the strong wind, injuring three pedestrians on the ground.
At press time last night, information from the center showed that more than 5,600 mobile phone base stations had been damaged.
Taiwan Power Co (台電) said that about 2 million households were without power as of 7pm.
The typhoon also disrupted the nation’s air traffic, ground transportation system and shipping services.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration said that 271 domestic flights and 446 international flights were canceled yesterday, while 155 flights were delayed.
Several airlines announced that some flights that were scheduled to depart yesterday would instead leave today.
Travelers are advised to contact airlines directly before leaving for airports.
Both Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (台灣高鐵) and the Taiwan Railways Administration canceled services yesterday.
The National Freeway Bureau also banned large passenger buses from accessing the Wugu-Yangmei Overpass after 12pm yesterday, as the winds in the area reached 50kph.
Forty-four people were stranded on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as ferries between the island and Taiwan proper were canceled.
The CWB said Megi weakened as its structure was compromised by Taiwan’s terrain, adding that it would change structure before entering the Taiwan Strait.
The typhoon was expected to move toward Kinmen before heading toward China’s Fujian Province, the CWB said.
Despite weakening, the typhoon is expected to cause heavy rainfall across the nation until this afternoon, when it was forecast to landfall in China.
As of 6pm yesterday, Taipingshan (太平山) in Yilan County had the highest accumulated rainfall with 1,015mm, followed by Niaozuishan (鳥嘴山) in Hsinchu County and Taoshan (桃山) in Taichung, which had accumulated more than 620mm of rainfall.
At press time last night, Penghu, Kinmen, Yunlin, Chiayi, Changhua, Yilan and Pingtung counties, as well as Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, had declared today a typhoon day, canceling school and work.
Taitung canceled work and school today in three villages in mountainous areas.
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
MATAIAN RIVER: Rescue operations were ongoing, with officials urging residents to move to higher floors where possible as teams focus first on those at ground level Floodwaters from the overflowing Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) yesterday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people trapped and three missing as of press time last night, the Hualien County Fire Bureau said. The waters surged into downtown Guangfu after the riverbank burst at about 2:50pm, carrying mud and debris and submerging streets to rooftop level in some areas. Residents were seen climbing onto vehicles and rooftops to await rescue as thick, silt-laden water inundated the town. The surge destroyed the Mataian Bridge (馬太鞍溪橋) and flooded the Guangfu Railway Station. Rescue operations were launched with support from fire departments
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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