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Nepartak causes chaos in China

The storm weakened as it passed over the island before leaving southwest Tainan City and was estimated to reach mainland China’s Fujian province later on Friday.

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A typhoon forecast to hit China’s eastern coast has forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people and suspended trains and flights.

Nepartak made its first landfall as a super typhoon near Taitung City in southeastern Taiwan in the early hours of Friday.

More than 100 global flights at the Taiwan Taoyuan worldwide Airport were either canceled or postponed, according to the Taipei Times.

The typhoon had left two people dead and 72 injured in Taiwan.

Typhoon Nepartak has slammed into China’s eastern coast, with high winds and heavy rain causing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and airlines to cancel numerous flights.

About 390,000 households had been affected by power cuts, a lot of them in Pingtung and Taitung counties, Taiwan’s emergency management service said. It was, however, downgraded to a tropical storm.

The water resources department of Fujian province said authorities have evacuated almost 230,000 people living in risky areas and ordered 33,200 fishing boats to return to port.

Ferry services and flights between Fujian and Taiwan were halted Friday, as were trains running between cities in Fujian and the neighbouring provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

Typhoons are considered to be common at this time of year in the South China Sea, as warm waters dissipating over land cause winds to pick up speed.

Ferocious winds battered the island at close to 200 kilometres per hour (kph) – with Taitung recording the strongest gusts in the county since 1901, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.

Taiwanese officials warned of flooding and mudslides before the heavy rain and powerful wind hit the island.

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Soldiers on Thursday went door-to-door in remote mountainous areas urging villagers to leave their homes.

Pingtung County