Strong winds and rain lashed Taiwan as Typhoon Sepat made landfall on Saturday, cutting power supplies to more than 70 000 homes and forcing more than 1 000 people to evacuate and airlines to delay flights.
Two cars were crushed by a falling billboard in Taipei, scaffolding collapsed at a building in the outskirts of the city and, in the mountains, workers battled to clear uprooted trees that were blocking roads.
”We were so busy yesterday because customers were grabbing instant noodles and other things from our shelves to stock up food for the typhoon today,” said Alice Wu, a shopkeeper at a convenience store aged in her 20s. ”Things are quieter today because everybody is staying indoors. Almost all the shops around here are closed, except for us.”
In Taitung, in the south-east of the island, preparations for the onslaught had been under way for days as the storm approached from the sea, swiping the Philippines on the way.
”In Taitung county, around 10 000 households were out of power, but repairs are already taking place,” said an official from Taiwan’s disaster centre.
”We haven’t seen reports about landslides. There aren’t any casualties so far, except for two people who were injured driving in Taitung in the middle of the bad weather,” the official said.
Local media said one person had died in the incident, but disaster officials later said the case was considered a road accident and not a storm-related casualty.
Heading for China
At 3.30am GMT, the centre of the typhoon was about 60km south-west of the coast of Taichung county, in Taiwan’s west, with sustained winds of 137km/h and gusts up to 173km/h.
Some flights from Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s two biggest cities, were either postponed or cancelled. Flights affected were bound for Hong Kong and cities in South-East Asia.
Sepat — a Malay name for a freshwater fish — was due to head towards China, where authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have warned that it could have a ”major effect” and urged people to prepare, Chinese newspapers said.
In China’s coastal province of Fujian, officials were told to cancel their holidays to make emergency preparations for the storm, a Hong Kong newspaper said.
In the Philippines, more than 380 000 people were affected by flooding, with more than 1 800 — mainly in the northern province of Pampanga — evacuated.
In Cavite, a province south of Manila, 20 families were stranded in 1,5m of flood water as garbage clogged rivers and canals. There were four minor landslides in the northern city of Baguio, but no reports of casualties.
In the northern parts of Manila, flooding was waist-deep and evacuation centres were bracing for more arrivals. In Malabon, one of the most densely populated areas of the capital, local radio reported residents renting out boats to pedestrians. — Reuters
Additional reporting by Ralph Jennings in Taipei, the Manila bureau and John Ruwitch in Hong Kong