Typhoon Fanapi pounds Taiwan - heads to China

Typhoon Fanapi crossed Taiwan today bringing heavy rain, flooding and wind damage to the island. The storm killed three people when it slammed into the island and over 50,000 people are currently without power.

Video: Typhoon Fanapi hits Taiwan(ITN News)


Typhoon Fanapi rolls across Taiwan(UPI)

Fanapi killed at least three people when it hit Taiwan Sunday and left more than 50,000 people without power. The Category 3 storm whipped up winds of 123 mph and dropped nearly 8 inches of rain in Yilan and Hualien counties.

Police said a woman was killed when she fell into a river while doing last-minute harvesting ahead of the storm. Two students drowned in a flooded canal when a girl slipped and fell and two friends jumped in after her, CNN said.

The heavy rain prompted concerns of mudslides in the mountainous regions of the countryside, especially in isolated and remote areas.

Taiwan typhoon triggers fears of landslides(New Zealand Herald)

TAIPEI - Rescue crews rushed to evacuate people from mountainous regions vulnerable to landslides as a powerful typhoon hit Taiwan.

Typhoon Fanapi, the first major storm to strike the island this year, made landfall in the eastern city of Hualien on Saturday, packing winds of 162km/h and churning its way across the island at a speed of 20km/h, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Interior Minister Chiang Yoo Hoo ordered authorities to remove villagers from regions prone to landslides, mindful that torrential rains were likely to cause massive subsidence on mountainsides, particularly in isolated areas of Taiwan's south.

Fanapi slammed into central Taiwan at the equivalent of a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Once it struck land it turned to the south and then crossed the southern portion of the island before emerging into the Taiwan Strait at a Category 1 strength. The storm is expected to remain at a Category 1 strength as it crosses the water and makes landfall in Fujian Province.

China Prepares for Typhoon Fanapi(VOA News)

China has stepped up emergency measures as typhoon Fanapi approaches its southeastern coast.

Weather officials have raised the typhoon to the second highest alert level. The government has said Fanapi could be the strongest storm to hit China this year.

Authorities in southeastern Fujian province ordered fishermen to stay away from the coast. More than 186,000 people have been evacuated, and many businesses shut down Sunday.

Three previous typhoons have struck this same region this year.