With its winds of 140 km/h and gusts sometimes reaching 190 km/h, torrential rains, floods and gigantic waves on the coasts, the powerful typhoon Haikui fell on Taiwan on Sunday, where the authorities evacuated thousands of people.
Haikui, the first typhoon to pass directly over Taiwan in four years, made landfall around 3:40 p.m. local time in Taitung, a mountainous and relatively sparsely populated region in the east of the island.
“It’s a little earlier than expected because it’s moving faster,” Yeh Chih-chun, a forecaster at Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Bureau, told AFP.
In the area, residents hide indoors in the dark and away from windows. Huge gusts of wind blow away uprooted trees and water tanks torn from their bases, according to an AFP journalist on site.
On Sunday, authorities reported two minor injuries in Hualien County, where a tree fell on a car.
Across the island, more than 21,000 homes were left without power. Most of them regained power by mid-afternoon, but about 9,000 were still without power when Haikui hit the ground.
The last major storm to hit the island before Haikui was the typhoon Bailuwhich left one person dead in 2019.
“Considerable threat”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the typhoon is expected to be the first in four years to hit the island’s central mountain range, which crosses it from north to south, a trajectory that risks causing landslides. of land in nearby regions.
“I remind the population that they must prepare for the typhoon, ensure their safety, avoid outings and dangerous activities,” she also declared.
The typhoon “is expected to pose a considerable threat to most areas of Taiwan with wind, rain and waves”, the deputy director of the Meteorological Bureau, Fong Chin-tzu, previously warned during a press conference.
According to the Meteorological Bureau, Haikui will cross the south of the island from east to west on Sunday evening before moving away over the Taiwan Strait by Monday evening, towards mainland China.
The typhoon led to the evacuation of around 4,000 people living in the most exposed areas, according to the authorities.
More than 200 domestic flights were canceled on Sunday, and businesses closed in most parts of the east and south of the island.
White veil
The streets of Hualien were deserted on Sunday morning, battered by relentless rain. In a fishing port in Yilan county (northeast), huge waves crashed on the shore.
In Taitung County, strong winds and torrential rain plunged the landscape into a kind of whiteout, with no visibility.
“I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in a typhoon. How violent this wind! exclaims Huang Jun-tong, owner of a seafood restaurant, as he makes sure his establishment is well caulked. “And yet yesterday everything was so calm, it didn’t feel like a typhoon was approaching.”
“I think this time it’s serious,” said Chang Jhi-ming, a 58-year-old retired mechanic. “It’s only just started, the wind has just arrived and you can already see trees falling.”
The army has mobilized soldiers and equipment, such as amphibious vehicles and inflatable boats, to areas of the island where the greatest damage is feared.
But Haikui should be less powerful than Saolawhich had raised high alerts in Hong Kong and southern China before degrading into a tropical storm on Saturday.
