Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas in eastern Taiwan ahead of Typhoon Haikui as authorities prepared on Sunday for the first tropical storm to directly hit the island in four years.
Haikui – which had already brought heavy rain on Sunday morning – has sustained winds of about 140 kilometers per hour and is expected to make landfall in Taiwan’s eastern Taitung area at 5 p.m. ).
Schools and offices in the southern and eastern parts of the island were closed on Sunday and more than 200 domestic flights were cancelled.
Haikui “will be the first typhoon in four years to make landfall in Taiwan,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday.
“I remind people to prepare for the typhoon and to pay attention to their safety, to avoid going out and dangerous activities.”
The storm was about 180 kilometers (110 mi) east of Taiwan just before 9 a.m., Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said at a news conference.
“It has gained some momentum since yesterday,” deputy director Fong Chin-tzu said, urging the public to “be wary.”
“It is expected to pose a significant threat to most areas in Taiwan with wind, rain and waves,” he said, adding that the storm would move westward into the Taiwan Strait on Monday.
The Interior Ministry said authorities have evacuated more than 2,800 people in seven cities in Taiwan, the majority from the mountainous county of Hualien, which borders Taitung.
The streets of Hualien were deserted Sunday morning, battered by continuous torrential rain under dark skies.
The military has mobilized soldiers and equipment – such as amphibious vehicles and inflatable dinghies – around the parts of Taiwan where Haikui is expected to have the heaviest impact.
The last major storm to hit Taiwan was Typhoon Bailu in 2019, which killed one person.
Haikui is expected to be less severe than Saola, which bypassed Taiwan but caused the highest threat level in nearby Hong Kong and southern China before weakening to a tropical storm on Saturday.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)