TAIWAN: Typhoon Sepat lashes Taiwan with strong winds and rain

Strong wind and rains hit Taiwan as Typhoon Sepat makes landfall. Strong winds and rain lashed Taiwan as Typhoon Sepat made landfall on Saturday (August 18), cutting power supplies to more than 70,000 homes and forcing over a thousand people to evacuate and airlines to delay flights. Two cars were crushed by a falling billboard in Taipei, scaffolding collapsed at a building in the outskirts of the city and, in the mountains, workers battled to clear uprooted trees that were blocking roads. In Taitung, in the southeast of the island, preparations for the onslaught had been under way for days as the storm approached from the sea, swiping the Philippines on the way. The centre of the typhoon was around 60 km (38 miles) southwest of the coast of Taichung county, in Taiwan's west, with sustained winds of 137 km (86 miles) per hour and gusts up to 173 km (108 miles) per hour. Some flights from Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan's two biggest cities, were either postponed or cancelled. Flights affected were bound for Hong Kong and cities in southeast Asia. Sepat -- a Malay name for a freshwater fish -- was due to head towards China, where authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have warned that it could have a "major effect" and have urged people to prepare, Chinese newspapers said. In China's coastal province of Fujian, officials were told to cancel their holidays to make emergency preparations for the storm, a Hong Kong newspaper said. In the Philippines, more than 380,000 people were affected by flooding, with more than 1,800 -- mainly in the northern province of Pampanga -- evacuated.

ITN Source | August 18, 2007

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