Morakot continues to China, One million evacuate

Typhoon Morakot slowly moved across Taiwan yesterday as a Catagory 1 storm with sustained winds of 119 kph (74 mph). While this is a minimal typhoon from a wind standpoint, the slow forward movement is resulting in heavy flooding and left much damage in its wake. Morakot has since decreased in severity to a tropical storm and is making landfall Sunday afternoon local time based on the tracking maps from the Tropical Storm Risk website.

Typhoon Morakot sweeps Taiwan, heads to China (Reuters)

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A typhoon swept through northern Taiwan, killing one and leaving four missing as it headed out to China, Taiwan's government said on Saturday.

Typhoon Morakot, which had slowed down from medium-strength on Friday, continued to linger over Taiwan with winds gusts up to 119 kph (74 mph) on its way to mainland China, said the Central Weather Bureau.

In anticipation of Tropica Storm Morakot making landfall, close to one million people have been evacuated from Fujian and Zhejian provinces.

Typhoon prompts China evacuations (CNN)

The typhoon is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before hitting the Chinese mainland, according to Xinhua.

The storm killed 10 people and injured 18 others in the Philippines, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Coordinating Council told CNN.

In Taiwan the storm killed two people, injured 15 and cut off power to about 650,000 households, according to Hong Kong's Metro Radio.

The storm caused significant distruction including the complete collapse of a 6 story hotel into a river in southern Taiwan. As the video shows the building just rolled off the river banks. Fortunately the building had been evacuated so there were no casualties.

Video: China Typhoon: One million flee: (ITN News)