Storm leaves after killing one and injuring 616

BACK TO NORMAL: Most areas in Taiwan would be partly cloudy to sunny today and tomorrow, with some rain expected in the east, a CWA forecaster said

Tropical Storm Champi left one person dead, injured 616 and caused some damage to infrastructure before moving away from Taiwan yesterday afternoon, the Central Emergency Operations Center said.

With the storm on a course toward southern Japan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) lifted its sea warning last night at 8:30pm. It lifted its land warning at 2:30pm.

As of 5pm yesterday, Champi had led to the death of one person and injured 616 since beginning to affect Taiwan on Thursday as a typhoon, the center said.

The death was reported in Pingtung County’s Liouciou Township (琉球), where a man was on Thursday swept away by storm-driven waves on a beach, the center said.

Most injuries were minor scrapes and bruises, with no one reported missing, it said.

Of the 9,027 reports of damage received, 3,287 involved fallen trees, including 1,282 in Taipei, the most of any administrative region, followed by 646 in Taichung. Another 3,033 involved essential infrastructure, while 1,014 involved billboards and signs, the center said.

It said more than 340,000 households lost power during the storm, and about 22,000 were still without electricity as of yesterday evening, but were expected to have service restored by 11pm.

Yilan County recorded 650mm of accumulated rainfall from Thursday through 4pm yesterday, the highest in the nation, while Taoyuan and Hsinchu County each received more than 500mm. Taipei recorded 469.5mm, the center said.

Yesterday alone through 4pm, Miaoli County had recorded 302mm of rainfall, Hsinchu County and Taipei had recorded about 250mm, Chiayi and Nantou counties had recorded 170mm, and Yunlin County had recorded 150mm.

A total of 4,960 people had been evacuated by 4pm yesterday as a precaution against landslides, including residents in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Keelung and Tainan, and Yilan, Hualien, Nantou, Yunlin, Pingtung, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Taitung counties, the center said.

As of 5pm yesterday, Champi was centered about 320km northeast of Taipei, moving north-northeast to northeast at 14kph to 21kph. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the CWA said.

CWA forecaster Lin Ping-yu (林秉煜) said Champi’s outer circulation would bring intermittent rain north of Miaoli County last night and early today.

Showers would gradually ease and become limited to areas north of Taoyuan and the mountainous areas of Taipei and New Taipei City before tapering off early today, Lin said.

Most areas in Taiwan would be partly cloudy to sunny today and tomorrow, with some rain in the east, Lin said, adding that Hualien and Taitung could see heavier rain, while mountainous areas of central and southern Taiwan could get scattered afternoon showers.

Champi also disrupted air and sea transport to Taiwan’s outlying islands, as well as international flights.

At Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, 563 flights were canceled on Friday, while another 261 had been canceled as of 10:15am yesterday, the airport operator said.

Flights to and from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) were also disrupted yesterday, with several flights canceled and others diverted.

The airports expected flight operations to gradually recover while urging travelers to check their flight’s status with their airlines before heading to the airport, as schedules remained subject to change.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said Champi had caused an estimated NT$133.36 million (US$4.1 million) in agricultural losses across Taiwan as of yesterday afternoon.

The brunt of the losses reported to date have occurred in Yunlin County, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total, with garlic crops sustaining the heaviest losses, it said.