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Typhoon Dujuan blasts into Taiwan
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SUPER Typhoon Dujuan battered Taiwan Island with torrential rain and fierce winds last night, while China issued its top alert as the storm approached the mainland.
Dujuan hit the island’s northeastern tip earlier than expected after picking up speed as it approached, with more than 7,000 people evacuated in advance.
Taiwan authorities said tens of thousands of homes were without power in the north.
Waves crashed along the east coast and the capital city Taipei was swept with wind and rain, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
“It picked up speed in the past few hours, but will slow somewhat after hitting the mountains in the east,” Taiwan’s weather bureau said.
Dujuan made landfall in the northern county of Yilan, where some areas have seen more than 500 millimeters of rain in 24 hours.
Panicked visitors to the island’s east — many of whom had headed there for the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend — crammed onto trains away from the eastern cities of Hualien and Taitung before services were suspended.
High-speed rail services in the west were also canceled.
Authorities warned that coastal areas could be particularly dangerous as tides are affected by the current “supermoon” — a rare astrological event in which the moon appears brighter and larger.
This is because the moon has reached its closest orbital point to Earth and has a stronger gravitational pull than usual.
The storm intensified as it approached Taiwan, with gusts of 227 kilometers per hour. Dujuan was graded a “strong typhoon” — the top category — by the island’s weather bureau while other regional forecasters categorized it as a “super typhoon.”
The Chinese mainland issued a red alert, its highest, for Dujuan. Heavy rain and gales are set to hit parts of Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Xinhua news agency reported.
The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center instructed ships’ crews to return to harbor and residents to stay indoors.
On Sunday, almost 3,000 people were evacuated from Taiwan’s Green Island and Orchid Island — popular with visitors.
More than 4,000 were moved yesterday ahead of the storm.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu said they were from vulnerable areas, including the hot springs town of Wulai just outside Taipei.
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