typhoon-nepartak-taiwanSuper typhoon Nepartak hit Taiwan’s east coast early Friday.  66 injured and 2 people dead with disrupted services leading to evacuations. More than 15,000 people had to leave their homes as hundreds of flights were cancelled and offices and schools shut. The typhoon packed winds of up to 198km/hour (123mph) and made landfall just before 0600 local time in eastern Taitung.

Taiwan’s rugged and mountainous terrain has slowed Nepartak, which has been downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon by Friday lunchtime. The storm is expected to have left Taiwan by late Friday and will hit eastern China early Saturday local time.

A storm is classed as a super typhoon if it reaches maximum sustained 1-minute surface winds of at least 65 m/s (145mph), the equivalent of a category-five hurricane in the Atlantic basin.

Taiwan is often hit by typhoons, with super typhoon Dujuan killing three people and leaving more than 300 injured in Taiwan in 2015.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter