TAIPEI, Taiwan // Typhoon Nepartak brought chaos to Taiwan on Friday, killing two people, injuring 72 and battering the island’s east coast with ferocious winds and torrential rain.
Planes and fishing boats were grounded, around 430,000 homes lost power and more than 15,000 people were evacuated as the typhoon made landfall in Taitung country in the early hours. y late morning, Nepartak had weakened to a medium-strength typhoon, with sustained winds of 163 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 230 kph (143mph), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau. The island’s railway services have also been suspended, while more than 600 domestic and international flights were cancelled on Friday.
Although the typhoon was losing power, disaster response officials said they remained concerned that the heavy rains would trigger floods and landslides in the rugged terrain.
In the Philippine capital Manila and outlying provinces, government work and classes were suspended on Friday as monsoon rains induced by the typhoon drenched many regions. Rescuers used rubber boats to move people around in waist-high floodwaters. Nepartak was forecast to reach Fujian province on mainland china on Saturday morning. The name Nepartak is a Micronesian word for a local warrior.
* Associated Press