Typhoon Dujuan kills 2 in Taiwan, 324 injured

Warnings for heavy rainfall as well as typhoon warnings have been issued for much of Taiwan which will bring with it the risk of landslides and flooding.

Trees were uprooted by strong winds while landslides were caused by torrential rains.

Schools and offices in Taiwan closed yesterday, as did the stock market.

The center of the storm passed Taiwan early Tuesday and moved on to China’s eastern Fujian province. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

The storm also prompted the suspension of many public transportation services and cancellations or delays of dozens of flights, the agency reported.

Over 175,000 homes are still without electricity as the storm left a trail of destruction in the north of the island.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency said on Tuesday that the typhoon had left two people dead, 324 injured, while six mountain climbers remain missing. It is forecast to reach Jiangxi province on Tuesday night, according to the National Meteorological Centre.

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu said they were from vulnerable areas, including the hot spring town of Wulai, just outside Taipei.

According to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters, more than 320,000 people in eight cities have been evacuated and more than 25,000 ships had returned to harbor. And Taiwan’s weather bureau has since downgraded the typhoon from “super” to “moderate”, as “it’s expected… to weaken and its radius to keep shrinking.”

Over the course of two days, massive devastation was caused by the disaster, with enormous waves damaging a seaside hotel, as well as the capital Taipei’s famous 101 skyscraper.

Reports say in addition to the elderly person and construction worker who died, more than three hundred people were injured in Taiwan.