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Tag: typhoon
Powerful Storm Hits Taiwan, Millions Without Power, Six Dead

Powerful Storm Hits Taiwan, Millions Without Power, Six Dead

By Michael Gold and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI/YILAN, Taiwan (Reuters) – A powerful typhoon battered Taiwan on Saturday with strong wind and torrential rain, cutting power to 3.62 million households as the death toll rose to six.

Four people were missing and 101 were injured, authorities said. Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled and more than 9,900 people were evacuated from their homes.

Television footage shows trees uprooted and power poles toppled over, a moped being swept into the air by wind, and shipping containers piled on top of each other at a port.

“The storm will weaken but we expect more rain, particularly in southern Taiwan,” said Wang Shih-chien, an official with the island’s Central Weather Bureau.

The storm made landfall early on the island’s east-coast counties of Yilan and Hualien, bringing more than 1,000 mm (39 inches) of rain in mountainous areas and wind gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph).

Although the eye of Typhoon Soudelor passed Taiwan, and was heading toward mainland China, rain was expected to lash the island until Sunday morning.

“This is one of the worst typhoons I have ever seen,” said a sewage station engineer surnamed Jiang, who was inspecting pumping stations early on Saturday in eastern Taiwan.

“My car was shaking when I was driving. There are too many trees down, and I even saw six downed power poles.”

In the capital, Taipei, large steel sheets and rods were blown off a half-constructed stadium and city authorities shut down much public transport.

“The metal roof of the house next door to mine was completely blown away,” said resident Jack Lin. “I saw a car crushed to bits.”

Authorities issued flood and mudslide alerts and television showed mud trapping people and murky water nearly covering the roofs of cars in some areas.

Among the dead was one person who drowned in his flooded home and another who was killed by a falling tree.

Earlier, authorities said one adult and one child had drowned at sea, while a foreign worker was killed by a falling sign and a rescue worker was hit by a car and killed while clearing downed branches from a road.

Taiwan Power, the island’s main power company, said 3.62 million households had lost power. While some supplies had been restored, 1.5 million households were still without power on Saturday afternoon, it said.

Fears that Soudelor would be as devastating as Typhoon Morakot in 2009 were unfounded. Morakot cut a path of destruction over southern Taiwan, leaving about 700 people dead or missing and causing $3 billion worth of damage.

The Tropical Storm Risk website downgraded the typhoon to a category 1 storm by Saturday afternoon, on a scale of 1 to 5, and indicated it could weaken as it moves toward the Chinese province of Fujian, which it is due to hit late on Saturday.

Authorities there have evacuated people on the coast and begun canceling flights and trains. Fujian has issued its highest typhoon alert, media reported.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea and Pacific, picking up strength from warm waters but losing it over land.

(Additional reporting by Taipei newsroom; Writing by J.R. Wu; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Photo: People hold umbrellas in heavy rain as Typhoon Soudelor approaches, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Taiwan, August 7, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer 

Two Dead, Five Missing As Powerful Typhoon Slams Into Japan

Two Dead, Five Missing As Powerful Typhoon Slams Into Japan

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon battered many parts of Japan Monday, including Tokyo, disrupting transport and leaving at least two people dead and five missing, local media reported.
Typhoon Phanfone made landfall at the city of Hamamatsu, central Japan, shortly after 8 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
About 2.7 million people had been advised to evacuate their homes, but most of the advisories were lifted, the Kyodo News agency reported.
The weather agency was still warning of mudslides, swollen rivers and strong winds in some areas of the country.
Tens of thousands of households lost electricity in eastern and central Japan, while rainfall reached 87 millimetres per hour in the city of Shizuoka.
Two people were missing in Yokohama, near Tokyo, after two separate mudslides struck a temple and an apartment building Monday morning.
On Sunday, a 58-year-old woman was found dead after falling from a cliff in strong winds on the island of Okinawa, the Okinawa Times reported.
Three U.S. airmen were swamped by high waves on the island. One of the three was recovered and later pronounced dead at a local hospital while the other two remained missing, U.S. Kadena Air Base said.
Authorities were searching for a university student off the coast of Fujisawa city, south of Tokyo, who also went missing while surfing in the area, broadcaster NHK said.
Airlines cancelled more than 600 flights scheduled for Monday and many train services were temporarily suspended, including Shinkansen bullet trains, it reported.
The approach of Phanfone halted search operations for 12 people missing on Mount Ontake in central Japan after it erupted late last month and left at least 51 dead.
Authorities warned that heavy ash on the flanks of the 3,067-metre volcano posed a mudslide risk as the typhoon reached the country’s main island.
As of 3 pm, the eye of the storm was 210 kilometres off the coast of Ishinomaki city, travelling north-east at 85 kilometres per hour, the agency said.
The fast-moving typhoon carried maximum sustained winds of 126 kph and gusts of 180 kph, the agency said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co suspended all outdoor work at the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, which suffered a triple meltdown after an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

AFP Photo/Charism Sayat

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Typhoon Kills Eight, Displaces Nearly 18,000 In Philippines

Typhoon Kills Eight, Displaces Nearly 18,000 In Philippines

By Girlie Linao, dpa

MANILA — Typhoon Kalmaegi killed eight people and displaced nearly 18,000 people as it battered the northern Philippines on the weekend, the national disaster relief agency said Monday.

More than a dozen ferry trips and nearly 50 domestic flights were cancelled as the storm hit Sunday, cutting off electricity in eight northern provinces.

Kalmaegi was packing maximum winds of 120 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph, the weather bureau said.

Schools were closed in Manila and northern provinces, where 17,633 people were forced to flee their homes, the national disaster relief agency said.

At least eight people died when a ferry sank Saturday evening in rough seas off the eastern province of Leyte, the navy said.

Three bodies were recovered shortly after the accident, five more were retrieved on Monday by navy ships, navy Lieutenant Commander Marineth Domingo said.

“The five cadavers included an infant girl,” she said.

Rescuers saved 113 people from the boat that was en route to the southern city of Surigao.

In Manila, 15 crew members were rescued from a docked vessel that capsized after being battered by strong winds and big waves on Sunday evening, the Office of Civil Defense said.

The ship was undergoing repairs at the Manila port. Seven of the crew members boarded a life raft, while the rest swam towards the shore, the office said.

Kalmaegi left some roads and bridges impassable in the northern Philippines, officials said.

The weather bureau said the typhoon, which blew out of the Philippines on Monday, would bring more trailing rains to the northern provinces, while the seas would continue to be rough.

AFP Photo/Jay Directo

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Typhoon Rammasun Kills At Least 20 In Philippines

Typhoon Rammasun Kills At Least 20 In Philippines

By Christine Mai-Duc, Los Angeles Times

At least 20 people have been killed and seven others injured in a typhoon that ripped through the Philippines, government officials said Wednesday.

Typhoon Rammasun, which made landfall early Tuesday, blasted the island nation with 105-mph winds and heavy rain, knocking down power lines and leading to the collapse of some bridges and buildings.

Officials have begun to survey the damage as the worst of the storm moved west off the coast of the country and toward China.

The storm is the first typhoon to touch down in the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan, which was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. It devastated the country in 2013, leaving thousands dead.

The fatalities from Rammasun, which included an 11-month-old baby and were mostly caused by falling trees and debris, were concentrated mainly in the Calabarzon region, just south of the nation’s capital.

“We cannot give a very clear picture yet. We are still awaiting reports from our local governments and councils,” said Romina Marasigan, a spokeswoman for the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Marasigan said more than 420,000 people have been evacuated throughout the country so far, and local governments are distributing relief and food packs to citizens.

Manila, where nearly 12 million people live, largely escaped major damage from Typhoon Rammasun, also known as Typhoon Glenda in the Philippines.

More than 20 people are dead after Typhoon Rammasun made landfall in the Philippines this week.

An aerial survey conducted over the capital city showed mostly downed power lines and damage to trees, but no major building collapses, Marasigan said.

Still, many areas remain without power. The storm knocked out service to more than 90 percent of customers, according to the Manila Electric Co. As of Wednesday evening, only 25 percent of customers had had their power restored.

Philippine officials cautioned residents in low-lying and mountainous areas about the possibility of landslides and flash flooding.

The U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center said it expects Rammasun to intensify before hitting the Chinese island of Hainan and Vietnam.

AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez

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