Typhoon pounds Taiwan

2004-08-24 09:31

Benjamin Yeh

Taipei - Typhoon Aere pounded northern Taiwan on Tuesday with heavy rain and powerful winds, triggering landslides, causing widespread disruption to transport, and leaving at least seven people feared dead.

A Hong Kong fisherman died and four others were reported missing late on Monday after two boats capsized off the north and east of Taiwan. Two young girls were also swept away while swimming in heavy seas in southern Japan.

Taiwan's National Rescue Command Centre said the fishermen were presumed dead. "Given the strong winds and rough seas, all search and search missions have been suspended," an official said.

Typhoon Aere - which means "storm" in the Marshall Islands where it began - was packing winds of 130km per hour as it bore down on the capital Taipei, which shut down financial markets, schools and offices.

7 200 households have no power

Two Taipei residents were injured by falling debris while gusts of winds uprooted trees in Taipei overnight and caused several car crashes, local officials said.

Workers also placed sandbags around department stores, some major buildings and entrances to the city's metro system, which was paralysed by flooding when Typhoon Nari struck in September 2001.

In the central county of Nantou, flash-floods washed away bridges and caused landslides which buried homes in Hsinyi village in the central county of Nantou, trapping some 4 000 residents, according to television reports.

The storm was also expected to strike the northern harbour city of Keelung, where hundreds of boats were seeking shelters as strong winds whipped up 10m waves.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the typhoon was expected to dump up to 1 000mm of rain on the island. The rain and winds caused major disruption to the transport network.

International flights were carrying on as normal but all domestic flights were suspended after a Far Eastern Air Transport aircraft skidded off the runway when it landed in Taipei early Tuesday.

The aircraft was forced onto the grass at the end of the runway. Airport authorities said all 93 passengers and six crew were unhurt.

The railway lines linking Taipei and eastern coastal cities were also suspended. Offices in most cities and counties in northern Taiwan were also shut down.

The central weather bureau urged people on the island to take precautions as the typhoon approached. The weather also forced the authorities to postpone war games scheduled for Wednesday to September 9.

Before the typhoon roared towards Taiwan overnight, Aere battered Japan's southern Okinawan islands, leaving two girls dead and injuring at least two other people. It also cut off electricity to about 7 200 households.

Japanese officials said two girls, aged 12 and seven, were swept away as they were swimming in Amami-Oshima, about 200km north of Okinawa.

- SAPA