Over half a million homes are without power in Taiwan while officials survey the damage caused by Typhoon Dujuan. Two deaths were reported as well as hundreds of injuries. Dujuan made landfall in China Tuesday morning with an average sustained wind at 74 mph.
Two to three feet of rain have been reported from Taiwan in a number of mountain locations with wind gusts as high as 154 mph.
The torrential rainfall from what is left of the Typhoon still torment the already battered Taiwan, threatening more flooding and dangerous mudslides.
Typhoon Dujuan is forecasted to rapidly weaken and dissipate as it moves over the terrain of southeastern China.
With wind gusts over 150 miles per hour Typhoon Dujuan has slammed into Taiwan. Dujuan has been categorized as a Super-typhoon and has left 24 injured as the incredible winds and massive rain battered the Island on Monday evening.
Most of the 24 people hurt suffered minor injuries, the island’s Emergency Operation Center said, many of them hit by flying debris.
More than 7,000 people have been evacuated in anticipation of the storm. About 200 people staying in emergency shelters.
So far, more than 330,000 home are without electricity and tens of thousands of troops are on standby.
Rainfall amounts have already reached 30 inches in some areas spawning fears of mudslides in the mountains.
China has issued its top alert as the storm approaches the mainland.
Officials in China and Taiwan report that at least 28 people have been confirmed dead as a result of Typhoon Soudelor. The death toll has been steadily rising since the storm roared through Taiwan into mainland China.
Taiwanese officials say that six people are confirmed dead including a mother and her twin daughters who were swept out to sea. At least 379 people were injured by the storm and over four million homes were without power, a record for most homes without power at one time.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported the storm’s heavy rains caused mudslides which buried homes in the Wenzhou and Lishui areas.
Some areas reported 27 inches of rain in a 24 hour period, the most for that area in over 120 years according to state media.
Damage to crops from the storm is estimated at $644 million with overall damage estimated at $1.43 billion.
The western Pacific has experienced ten typhoons this year.
Forecasters are reporting the Typhoon Soudelor, which has weakened from earlier this week when it became the strongest storm of the year, could strike Taiwan head-on with the same level of force as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
“It is barreling down on Taiwan and winds will strengthen to around 130 mph by the time it hits at some point [Friday] afternoon U.S. time,” Weather Channel forecaster Michael Palmer told NBC. “There will undoubtedly be some significant damage, there will be some massive waves and flash flooding.”
The storm is tracking over the center of the country and about 7 million people in capital city Taipei’s metropolitan area could be impacted by the storm.
The storm has already killed one person. An 8-year-old girl was confirmed dead after being swept out to sea according to Taiwan’s National Fire Agency. Another child is missing and feared dead in the incident that was survived by a 38-year-old woman and another child.
Taiwanese authorities forced the evacuations of over 600 residents along coastal areas. Flights to the island have been cancelled and all schools and public offices and facilities will be closed.
The storm is drawing comparisons to 2009’s Typhoon Morakot that killed 700 people and caused over $3 billion in damage.
Chinese officials have started evacuations from the coastal province of Fujian where the storm is expected to hit after crossing over Taiwan.
A storm that could prove to be the strongest of the year is bearing down on Taiwan.
Super Typhoon Soudelor is a category 5 storm, the strongest level for a storm. The storm has been reported to have sustained winds of 160 m.p.h. and gusts of 180 m.p.h.
NASA has been tracking the storm and says that it is tracking toward northern Taiwan and mainland China. They predict the storm will weaken before making the landfall sometime Thursday on Taiwan.
“There is growing concern that Taiwan and the southern Ryukyu Islands will have to contend with Soudelor as early as Thursday night or Friday with impacts lasting into early next week across eastern China,” AccuWeather meteorologist Eric Leister said to the USA Today.
The storm already has caused major damage on the island of Saipan north of Guam. The storm crossed the island as a Category 2 storm on Sunday night. U.S. officials have been rushing relief supplies to Guam to take to Saipan.
Thousands of residents of Saipan are in shelters.
Local officials say it’s a miracle anyone survived the crash of a TransAsia flight in Taiwan on Wednesday that left at least 26 people dead.
A man driving on Taiwan’s National Freeway No. 1 captured the crash on video which made it appear the engines failed causing the plane to fall out of the sky. The plane barely missed the main highway before clipping a taxi and the edge of a bridge on the way into a river.
Officials say that 18 people are still missing in the river but that 15 people were rescued and rushed to hospitals including a toddler. The driver of the taxi and passenger were also injured in the incident.
Local Taiwan broadcasters played a recording of the plane’s last contact with the control tower where the pilots repeat “Mayday” three times. The pilots offered to details as to what may have caused the crash.
TransAsia director Peter Chen told reporters that plane was one of the newest in their fleet and had been in service for less than a year. The pilot reportedly had 4,900 hours of flight experience, leading officials to say it’s likely mechanical failure was the cause over pilot error.
The strongest storm on Earth in 2013 is bearing down on Taiwan and Hong Kong.
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