Typhoon Dujuan hits southwest China

However, in the rescue process, five firefighters belonging to the Chung-Lun branch were slightly injured.

As Typhoon Dujuan headed across the Pacific Ocean towards Taiwan, the island suspended train services, while subway and local bus services in Taipei were halted and hundreds of domestic and global flights were delayed or cancelled.

Most of those who were hurt sustained their injuries when they were hit by falling sign boards or in traffic accidents caused by rainy or windy conditions, the center said.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency, citing the government’s emergency operations centre, said the typhoon had left two people dead, 324 injured and six mountain climbers missing.

About 2,000 people were spending the night in temporary shelters. Windspeeds rose from 23kph to 38kph in the hours before the typhoon hit.

“It’s expected the typhoon will continue to weaken and its radius to keep shrinking”, the weather bureau said.

According to the media, a few areas received over 900mm of rain in just one day on Monday, which is about one-third the average annual rainfall for Taiwan.

The island’s high-speed rail lines and regular train networks resumed service on Tuesday afternoon.

The typhoon-induced storm coincided with an astronomical high tide, causing the seawater to backflow and flood streets in a few coastal areas and low-lying parts of Xiamen.

This is because the moon has reached its closest orbital point to Earth and therefore has a stronger gravitational pull than usual.

Typhoons are a yearly occurrence in Taiwan from June through October, and these storms create unsafe conditions that affect all of the nation’s residents.

It slowed after making landfall and was expected to move past Taiwan by midnight. Schools and offices in Taiwan remain shut on Tuesday and the stock market is also closed.

The storm was about 90 kilometers east-northeast of Taiwan’s Kinmen Island by 8:30 am, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.

Dujuan has also brought gales, torrential rain and waves to neighbouring Zhejiang Province.