On Saturday, Typhoon Champi moved past Taiwan, leaving one person dead and hundreds injured as the weakening storm headed north toward China.
The storm forced a second day of closures and widespread flight cancellations while heavy rain threatened mountainous and low-lying areas. Reported injury, outage and flight totals varied sharply by source and update time, leaving the final impact unclear.
Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said Champi passed about 150km east of the island after glancing off its northeast coast in the early hours of Saturday. The storm uprooted trees and cut power as it moved north.
The weather administration said gusts near the storm's centre were about 126km per hour. In another update, it put the storm about 100km east of Yilan, moving north-northeast at 16kph with maximum sustained winds of 155kph.
A later measurement put gusts near the centre at about 191kph. The figures changed as Champi moved north, but the storm remained powerful near its centre.
Champi had weakened from its earlier peak of 298 kph maximum sustained winds to 155 kph as it approached Taiwan. Its radius was around 320 kilometres, large enough to engulf most of the island.
Casualty and disruption figures differ
Taiwan's fire department and the Central Emergency Operations Center said a man was swept away by storm-driven waves on Liuqiu island in Pingtung County, in Liouciou Township.
Police received the report at about noon on Thursday. Rescuers found the man without vital signs at about 2pm, and he was pronounced dead at about 5pm after being taken to hospital.
The reported injury count varied with when and how each organisation recorded the damage. The Guardian said the figures included 527 injuries. The Central Emergency Operations Center's total was 350 people injured as of 7:30pm the previous day, Mongabay's figure was more than 170 other injuries, and CBC News and Euronews put the number at 94 others.
| Measure | Reported figure | Source or update |
|---|---|---|
| Injuries | 527 | The Guardian |
| Injuries | 350 | Central Emergency Operations Center, as of 7:30pm |
| Injuries | More than 170 | Mongabay |
| Injuries | 94 | CBC News and Euronews |
| Homes without power | More than 167,000 | Taipower |
| Households affected | 77,498 | Taiwan Power Co, as of 2pm |
| International flights cancelled | 715 | Civil Aviation Administration |
| International flights cancelled | 669 | Transport ministry |
| Total flights cancelled | 931 | Euronews |
| People evacuated | More than 2,600 | Taiwanese authorities |
| People evacuated | Nearly 1,300 | Euronews |
Taipower said more than 167,000 homes had lost electricity, although most had been reconnected. Taiwan Power Co's figures as of 2pm showed 77,498 households affected, with 58,469 households, or more than 75 percent, having their electricity restored.
Schools and offices in northern and central Taiwan remained closed for a second consecutive day on Saturday. The areas included Taichung, several counties, Hsinchu city and county, Taoyuan, Keelung, New Taipei City, and Taipei.
The Civil Aviation Administration said all 262 domestic flights were cancelled, while its figures put international cancellations at 715, the transport ministry's at 669, and Euronews's total at 931 cancelled flights, including all 262 domestic services and 669 international flights.
Flights to and from Taiwan were cancelled or postponed on Saturday. Domestic flights and ferry services were suspended, and airlines and ferry authorities urged passengers to check current travel information before going to airports.
At Taipei's Songshan Airport, departure counters were empty and stranded passengers rested beneath screens showing cancellations. Taipei's subway and western-coast high-speed rail services were operating normally.
The storm’s wind radius is quite large, among the bigger ones in recent years
Liu Pei-teng, a forecaster at the Central Weather Administration, said Champi's wind field was unusually broad in recent years.
If the storm slows down, the strong winds will affect Taiwan for longer.
The weather administration forecast up to 900mm of rain in mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County. It said cumulative rainfall from Thursday through midnight could reach 600mm to 900mm in those areas.
Rainfall at the Taipingshan weather station in Yilan County exceeded 500mm as of 7pm the previous day. The Cuifeng Lake and Cuifeng Forest Road stations recorded more than 400mm, bringing them close to the same extremely torrential rain threshold.
In New Taipei City, low-lying areas faced 500mm to 700mm of rain, while Yilan was forecast to receive 400mm to 600mm. The Central Weather Administration expected the rain to begin easing on Saturday afternoon.
Taiwanese authorities said more than 2,600 people had been moved from vulnerable mountainous areas. Euronews' report put the number evacuated at nearly 1,300. Thousands of military personnel were on standby for rescue work.
The storm moves north
Champi's forecast track showed it turning north towards the Chinese coast before moving towards southern Japan. Experts expected its main effects on Taiwan to continue through Saturday.
It remained unclear whether the storm's centre would make landfall in Taiwan. Liu said that possibility could not be ruled out if Champi stalled, looped or wobbled.
- ThursdayDeath reported
Police received a report that a man had been swept away by storm-driven waves on Liuqiu island.
- SaturdayClosures continue
Northern and central areas declared a second consecutive day of school and office closures.
- SaturdayTransport disrupted
Domestic flights and ferry services were suspended, while international cancellation figures varied by source.
- MondayJapan expected next
Experts expected Champi to reach Japan's southern mainland.
In southwestern Japan, the typhoon injured one person, grounded flights and cut power. Nearly 2,000 homes on Ishigaki island were without electricity, and dozens of flights involving Miyako, Ishigaki and Okinawa were cancelled.
A woman in her 70s on Miyako island suffered a broken leg in the wind, according to the Okinawa prefecture government.
In the Philippines, authorities restricted ships and ferries from entering choppy waters off several northern towns and cities. Basco's airport in Batanes was closed on Friday, two local flights were cancelled and nearly 200 people in Cagayan province moved to safer areas.
Earlier, Champi affected Guam and other Pacific islands; a federal disaster area was declared there.
The final injury toll was still being updated, and the full extent of the damage was not yet known. The final number of flights affected between Hong Kong and Taiwan was also unspecified.
Passengers were urged to check the latest information from airlines and ferry authorities as disruptions continued. The storm was expected to reach Japan's southern mainland on Monday.
