Taiwan Shuts Down as Typhoon Champi Kills One and Injures 94

Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday as Typhoon Champi moved past the island, bringing strong winds and torrential rain to the north and east. One person was killed and 94 were injured, and the government said almost 1,300 people had been evacuated from mountainous areas, Reuters reported.

The man who died was swept into the sea off a beach in Liuqiu Township, in Pingtung County, the disaster response centre said. The Coast Guard said he had been freediving off Xiaoliuqiu island when a powerful current took him. Officials said road accidents accounted for the largest share of the 94 injuries.

A weakening storm that could still make landfall

Champi was once a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year. By Friday it was weakening, but it still packed gusts of around 191 kph near its centre, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said. The storm sat about 320 km east of Taiwan's southern tip, and its wind radius of about 320 km was large enough to cover most of the island.

Forecasters said the track would take Champi just off northeastern Taiwan, then north toward the Chinese coast and into southern Japan. A direct landfall could not be ruled out. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng told Reuters that landfall was still possible if the storm stalled, looped or wobbled on its approach, and that a slower storm would keep strong winds over Taiwan for longer. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center put the storm's maximum sustained winds at 176 kph.

Coastal towns received mobile phone alerts warning of gusts above 150 kph and urging people to take shelter. Nearly a metre of rain was forecast for northern mountain areas, including around Taipei, from Thursday to Saturday, with the northeast expected to take the heaviest falls.

Flights, markets and schools all stop

Work and classes were suspended across most of the island, with only the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, off the Chinese coast, opening as normal. Financial markets closed for the day. The transport ministry said all 262 domestic flights were cancelled for Friday, along with more than 350 international flights, and ferry operators suspended 10 routes and 96 sailings, the Maritime and Port Bureau said. Major department stores closed, including all 16 Shin Kong Mitsukoshi stores and Taipei 101. In Taipei, the subway kept running on a reduced service through squally showers.

In Yilan County in the northeast, where the storm was due to pass close later on Friday, authorities handed out sandbags and put amphibious vehicles and inflatable rescue boats on standby. Thousands of military personnel were on standby across the island to help with rescue work. President Lai Ching-te urged residents to follow official updates, stay away from coastlines and mountain areas, and comply with evacuation orders.

The third landmass in Champi's path

Taiwan is the third place Champi has hit in a week. The storm moved ashore over southern Guam on October 17, then crossed the waters east of Northern Luzon in the Philippines, where PAGASA, the Philippine weather bureau, raised Signal No. 2 over Batanes on October 21 under the storm's local name, Rosal. Forecasters expected Champi to pass Japan's westernmost inhabited island, Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture, as it turned north.

Taiwan is well prepared for typhoons, which keeps casualties low in most storms, but officials warned that Champi's size meant its effects could last close to two days even as it weakened.