Typhoon alert lifted: Chanthu leaves Taiwan relatively unscathed
Only minor damage and casualties were reported after Typhoon Chanthu skirted Taiwan’s east coast before heading toward China today, Sunday, September 12.
The Central Weather Bureau lifted the land-based alert for Typhoon Chanthu at 8:30 pm and is expected to lift the sea warning at midnight if the storm maintains its current trajectory and speed.
At the time the alert was lifted Typhoon Chanthu was located 190 kilometers east-northeast of Taipei moving north-northwest at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour.
The Central Disaster Response Center received 377 reports of infrastructure damage throughout Taiwan with 81,688 households having lost power and 2,558 households still awaiting power restoration Sunday evening.
Disaster reports included the collapse of roadside trees and advertising signs, damage to civilian infrastructure, and flooding. While the CDRC did not report any casualties, news outlets reported that one man is missing after falling into rising waters in a stream in Miaoli County, and a man in Yilan died after falling off the roof of a building while attempting to repair a damaged advertising sign.
Residents of Orchid Island bore the brunt of the typhoon as the eye-wall passed over the island from late Saturday night to Sunday morning. However, only minor damage to sheds, awnings, and vehicles were reported.
In Taitung County some damage to banana crops in Beinan Township was reported, but crop losses overall were not large, County Magistrate Rao Ching-ling said.
Chanthu quickly intensified from a tropical storm into a category 5 “super typhoon” before it swept over the northernmost islands of the Philippines Friday, but weakened to what the Central Weather Bureau described as a “medium typhoon” as it ran parallel with Taiwan’s east coast Saturday and Sunday. The eye of the typhoon and the eye-wall where the most intense winds were packed remained out to sea.
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