Megi batters Taiwan

Megi batters Taiwan

Typhoon Megi claimed seven lives and left some tourists missing after hitting Taiwan as it heads toward Xiamen in southern China yesterday. Power outages were reported throughout the island, the National Fire agency said.

A landslide in Suao in Yilan province covered a house beside a Buddhist temple where the dead victims were located, while 19 tourists from China, their tour guide and the bus driver went missing yesterday.

Another tour guide and a tourist sustained injuries in separate typhoon-related incidents, the China National Tourism Administration reported.

The typhoon, the strongest weather disturbance recorded so far this year, poured an estimated 1,195 millimeters or 47 inches of rain in the northeastern part of the island since October 21 according to the Central Weather Bureau.

Megi was spotted at 130 kilometers or 81 miles south of Xiamen at 8 a.m. local time today, packing winds of about 130 kilometers per hour near the center. It is expected to hit the coast of Fujian province by 2 p.m. local time if it continues to hold its northerly direction, travelling at 12 kilometers or 7.5 miles per hour, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported.

Chinese authorities have ordered a mandatory evacuation of 160,000 people living mostly near coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, the state’s Xinhua News Agency said.

Megi has regained strength as it travelled over the South China Sea after barrelling through the Phillipines earlier this week, killing dozens and destroying crops, roads, and bridges.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center also reported two new weather disturbances developing in the east of the Philippines.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Saturday October 23 2010, 8:10 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0