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Taiwan awakened Monday to toppled timber, floods, and protracted rainfall after Hurricane Haikui made landfall on the island and swept in a single day throughout its central mountain ranges.
Haikui initially appeared to depart the island however made a second landfall early on Monday in southwestern Kaohsiung, earlier than it was downgraded to a extreme tropical storm.
There have been no stories of deaths, however destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated jap Taiwan the place the storm instantly hit the day earlier than.
“I’ve lived right here for thus lengthy and I’ve by no means seen such wind gusts,” mentioned Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung’s Donghe township, the place he was with an early-morning work crew eradicating timber from a street.
Though Haikui is taken into account to be much less extreme than earlier storms, Chen mentioned it felt extra highly effective.
“It got here straight by us.”
Additional north from Donghe, employees ferried large blocks to a coastal freeway that had partially collapsed from the pressure of waves slamming into it, hoping that the concrete buildings would take in the influence.
Haikui — the primary storm landfall in Taiwan in 4 years — compelled the evacuation of greater than 7,000 folks throughout the island, notably from landslide-prone mountainous areas. Tons of of flights have been cancelled and companies have been closed.
Greater than 217,000 households briefly misplaced energy by the day. By Monday morning, 58,000 properties nonetheless had no electrical energy, whereas faculties and companies remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down.
A forecaster with Taiwan’s Central Climate Bureau mentioned Haikui initially appeared to maneuver by the island and out to sea however made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at round 4am (2000 GMT Sunday).
Through the night time “the centre of the storm was virtually circling” Kaohsiung, however because it moved alongside the shoreline “the construction of the storm is broken by the terrain and step by step weakens”, she mentioned.
Native information shops reported that the roads have been flooded in Kaohsiung, and uprooted timber have been strewn throughout streets.
Practically 80 folks have been injured in the course of the storm, in keeping with authorities, although they have been minor — largely resulting from fallen timber and automobile accidents.
Haikui is now anticipated to convey robust winds and rain to the south and northeast, and to Taiwan’s outlying islands of Kinmen and Penghu.
