SHANGHAI A storm bringing heavy rain to disrupt rail travel in southeast China was all that remained on Saturday of super typhoon Nepartak, which had weakened rapidly after causing several deaths in Taiwan and damage of more than $20 million.
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It has killed two people and injuring 66 others.
The typhoon made it to landfall at dawn on Friday in Taitung county – where most people have been injured.
China’s State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Friday issued this year’s first red alert for ocean waves as Typhoon Nepartak approaches the mainland.
The local government had also asked ships at sea to dock and all fishermen to evacuate, with 66 tugs and three helicopters lined up to help, Chinese official news portal people.com.cn reported Friday. The island’s railway services have also been suspended, while more than 600 domestic and global flights were cancelled on Friday.
The water resources department of Fujian province says authorities have evacuated almost 230,000 people living in risky areas and ordered 33,200 fishing boats to return to port.
A girl is carried along a flooded road in suburban Mandaluyong, east of Manila, Philippines, as monsoon downpours intensify while Typhoon Nepartak leaves the country on Friday, July 8, 2016.
Soldiers on Thursday went door-to-door in remote mountainous areas urging villagers to leave their homes.
An estimated 430,000 households were without power due to the storm in Taiwan, but work is going around the clock to restore electricity.
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By late morning, Nepartak had weakened to a medium-strength typhoon, packing maximum sustained winds of 163 kilometers (100 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph), Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said.
