Taipei:Typhoon Champi caused significant disruptions across Taiwan on Friday, leading to road closures and injuries, and triggering evacuations as powerful winds and waves battered the island's eastern coast.
According to Focus Taiwan, around 940 a.m. on Friday, waves reaching heights of 6 meters swept a large crane into the sea at Fugang Harbor in Taitung County. This incident was captured in an online video, which recorded bystanders' reactions to the enormous waves.
In Hualien, two students from National Dong Hwa University suffered minor injuries after their scooter collided with a fallen tree near the campus on Thursday night. The heavy rain had reduced visibility, contributing to the accident. Both students were treated and subsequently discharged from the hospital.
At Changbin Harbor in northern Taitung, waves as high as 8 meters hit the coast, resulting in seawater flooding roads and overturning three bamboo rafts. In Taitung County, a section of the southbound lane of Provincial Highway 9 near Duoliang Village was closed due to erosion of the roadbed on the outer side of the northbound lane.
Chiu Min-feng, head of the Highway Bureau's Dawu Maintenance Office, assured that traffic was not disrupted by the damage but expressed concerns over further erosion potentially impacting the embankment. As a precautionary measure, the office plans to place concrete breakwater blocks and temporarily close the outer northbound lane.
The heavy rain also led to evacuations. In New Taipei City, 1,397 residents from landslide-prone areas were expected to evacuate, according to Mayor Hou Yu-ih. Additionally, preventive evacuations of 350 people took place in Datong and Nan'ao townships in Yilan County.
Taiwan Power Co. reported that as of 2 p.m., 77,498 households had experienced power outages, with power restored to 75 percent of them. However, 19,029 households remained without electricity. Earlier in the day, the Central Emergency Operations Center noted that the typhoon had resulted in one death and 94 injuries by 6 a.m.
