At least 2 killed, 500 injured as Typhoon Danas lashes Taiwan with record winds

TAIPEI - Typhoon Danas lashed southern Taiwan with record winds and strong rain early on July 7, killing two people and injuring more than 500 in a rare hit to the island’s densely populated west coast.

Taiwan is regularly struck by typhoons but they generally land along the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific.

Businesses and schools were shut along the west coast, with the storm bringing winds of around 220kmh as it tore through the south-western county of Yunlin after making landfall along Taiwan’s south-western shores late on July 5.

Over 700 trees were felled across western cities and towns, and road signs were ripped off and strewn across the streets.

In the southern city of Tainan, some concrete electric poles were snapped off at their bases while a wooden gate of a major temple collapsed, local television footage showed.

Danas – at one point listed by Taiwan’s weather authority to be at the second-strongest level – has greatly weakened since and was forecast to hit eastern China later this week.

“The typhoon track is rare… The whole of Taiwan will be affected by the wind and rain one after another,” President Lai Ching-te said in a post on Facebook, urging citizens to make preparations.

Power to more than half a million homes was cut, and over 300 domestic and international flights were cancelled, government data showed. The north-south high-speed rail line scaled back services.

The National Fire Agency said one person was killed by a falling tree while driving, and another died after the person’s respirator malfunctioned due to a power cut.

Record winds of around 220kmh were recorded in the south-western county of Yunlin, while more than 700 trees and street signs were blown over across western cities and towns, government data showed.

There was no major report of damage at Tainan Science Park, which houses tech giants such as TSMC.

Maritime officials in eastern China’s Zhejiang province raised their emergency response to the second-highest level on July 7, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

As at 10am, 121 passenger vessels and 64 ferry routes had been suspended across the province, CCTV reported.

The authorities also halted 181 construction projects, including wind farms, as a precaution.

Danas is expected to gradually approach the coastal areas between Zhejiang’s Taizhou city and Fuzhou city in neighbouring Fujian province, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

The typhoon is forecast to make landfall along the stretch late on July 8. REUTERS