Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was weakening on Saturday but was still packing gusts of around 126 kilometres per hour near its centre, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA).
The storm was about 170 kilometres northeast of Taiwan after brushing the island's northeastern coast in Yilan County early on Saturday, the CWA said.
The centre of the storm turned south around midnight, hugged the Yilan coastline before making a rare loop offshore and then moved away northwards. The storm's forecast track shows it will turn north, track up the Chinese coast and eventually move into southern Japan.
One person was killed and 527 were injured in Taiwan, with the fire department saying the victim was a man swept away by waves off the island of Liuqiu.
Coastal towns received mobile phone alerts warning of gusts exceeding 150 kph and urging residents to seek immediate shelter, while nearly a metre of rain was forecast for northern mountain areas, including around Taipei.
In Yilan, residents described the storm as particularly intense around midnight as Champi passed close to the coast.
“It was most terrifying around midnight,” said a retired teacher surnamed Lin as he inspected downed banana trees in his garden. “It was a sleepless night. I haven't seen anything like this in many years.”
Governments in parts of northern and central Taiwan, including Taipei, declared a second day of school and office closures on Saturday.
The transport ministry said 259 flights were cancelled on Saturday, down from almost 1,000 on Friday.
In the capital Taipei, there were downed trees and intermittent squally rain showers.
China's emergency management ministry sent a team to the eastern province of Zhejiang as Champi approached, warning of strong winds and heavy rain through Sunday.
Authorities said 400 rescue workers and 600 pieces of equipment had been readied, while more than 41,000 firefighters were on emergency duty.
In Taizhou, more than 3,800 fishing boats returned to harbour, offshore fish-farm workers were brought ashore and 2,084 island visitors were evacuated. Authorities also halted 25 offshore construction projects and suspended 18 passenger ferry routes.
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