July 2016 – TAIWAN — Typhoon
Nepartak is now spinning in the Taiwan Strait, after leaving three
people dead and more than 100 injured in Taiwan. The storm came ashore
in southeastern Taiwan as the equivalent of a Category 4 just after 6:30
a.m. local time Friday morning, but has been downgraded several levels
as it moves toward China. “As anticipated, Taiwan’s mountainous terrain
weakened Nepartak considerably,” said weather.com senior meteorologist
Jonathan Erdman. “However, regardless of its intensity, heavy rainfall
will continue to be a concern in Taiwan and southeast China, likely
triggering areas of flooding into the weekend.”
One of the deceased was a Taiwanese
soldier who was found dead Friday morning after falling into the ocean
off Dongyin Island in the Taiwan Strait Thursday, according to Taiwan’s
Central Emergency Operation Center. The other fatality was a man that
drowned off a beach in Hualien County Thursday. A 71-year-old woman died
from severe wounds after being hit by a falling piece of furniture,
Focus Taiwan reports. The massive storm came ashore about 10 miles south
of Taitung City, packing winds around 150 mph, damaging structures and
dumping torrential rainfall on parts of the island nation.
“The streets already look like a bomb
has gone off, and this is just the start of it… crazy power,”
professional stunt rider Dave McKenna, who is currently in Taiwan, said
on his Instagram account as the storm rolled in. “I’ve been in some back
home in Australia but nothing like this,” he said. Storm trackers rode
out the western half of the typhoon as it arrived in Taiwan during the
overnight hours and into Friday morning, and reported damage to
buildings and numerous trees downed by the massive storm.
Taiwanese authorities reported that
more than 15,400 people have been evacuated from 14 counties and cities.
About 520,000 households were affected by power cuts, predominately in
Pingtung and Taitung counties, according to TaiPower. Taiwan’s Central
Emergency Operations Center spokesman Li Wei-sen told AP that more than
500 domestic and international flights have been canceled and others
were delayed. “Yes, I am worried about it, same as everyone here,”
fisherman Chen Chun-po told the AP. –Weather
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