More than 3,300 people from four counties and cities have been evacuated, particularly near the eastern township of Guangfu, where flooding from a typhoon in September caused a barrier lake to overflow, killing 18 people
A pedestrian holds an umbrella in strong wind and rain caused by the approaching of Typhoon Fung-Wong in Keelung, Taiwan, on Tuesday. PIC/AFP
Taiwan evacuated more than 3,000 residents from vulnerable areas and closed schools and offices on Tuesday as tropical storm Fung-wong approached, news agency AP reported. The storm had earlier killed at least 18 people and displaced more than 1.4 million in the Philippines after making landfall there on Sunday.
Once classified as a typhoon, Fung-wong has weakened as it nears Taiwan and is expected to make landfall Wednesday afternoon or evening near the southwestern port city of Kaohsiung.
According to Taiwan’s weather agency, Typhoon Fung-wong on Tuesday morning had maximum sustained winds of 108 kilometre per hour (kph) and gusts reaching 137 kph. It is predicted that the storm will sweep across the island and move out from its northeastern side by Wednesday evening or early Thursday, AP reported.
More than 3,300 people from four counties and cities have been evacuated, particularly near the eastern township of Guangfu, where flooding from a typhoon in September caused a barrier lake to overflow, killing 18 people.
Schools and offices were closed Tuesday in Hualien and Yilan counties, while weather authorities issued land warnings for southern and southwestern regions, including Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Tainan, and Taitung, AP reported.
China also activated an emergency typhoon response for its southeastern provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Hainan.
Fung-wong struck the northeastern coast of the Philippines on Sunday as a super typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 185 kph and gusts up to 230 kph. Typhoon Fung-wong, spanning 1,800 km, triggered flash floods and landslides across several northern provinces, killing at least 18 people.
As of Tuesday, more than a million people remained displaced, with about 8.03 lakh taking shelter across 11,000 evacuation centres across northern Luzon, said Office of Civil Defense deputy director Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV.
Among the victims were three children whose homes were buried in separate landslides in the mountainous province of Nueva Vizcaya, which also injured four others. Another landslide in nearby Kalinga province killed two villagers, while two others remained missing, officials said.
“It’s not mass casualty in one place,” Alejandro stated on Tuesday, adding that several people were killed in separate landslides.
Both the Philippines and Taiwan experience numerous typhoons and tropical storms each year.
(With AP inputs)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
