Taipei, Oct. 5, (dpa/GNA) – Typhoon Koinu brought heavy rains and strong wind to Taiwan, leaving more than 200,000 households without electricity and causing injuries, authorities said on Thursday.
Koinu was passing over southern Taiwan, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The storm would continue to affect Taiwan until Friday, when it heads onward towards south-eastern China.
CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua told a news conference that a monitoring station in Lanyu, or Orchid Island, in eastern Taiwan, showed a record high wind gust late on Wednesday with a speed of 95.2 metres per second. The wind gust surpassed the previous record of 89.8 metres per second in 1984 in Lanyu.
At least 190 people were injured due to accidents, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center. Local governments had reported 1,719 accidents, including more than 900 involving fallen trees and shop signs.
Local media showed images of fallen power lines and trees in affected areas in southern and eastern Taiwan. Some tin houses were torn apart.
Many schools and offices were closed on Thursday and more than 220 international and domestic flights were cancelled. Train services in mountains or flood-prone areas in eastern Taiwan were suspended. Ferry services connecting the island of Taiwan and offshore islets have been suspended since Tuesday.
GNA