Two killed as typhoon lashes Taiwan
Parts of Tainan are flooded after Typhoon Danas hits Taiwan. Photo: AFP
Typhoon Danas has brought heavy winds and torrential rains to parts of Taiwan, killing two people and injuring more than 300 on the island's densely populated west coast.
The typhoon lost intensity and was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves across the Taiwan Strait.
Danas knocked out power for more than 580,000 households, and schools and offices were closed across southern and central parts of Taiwan.
The typhoon made landfall on the west coast late Sunday with maximum sustained winds of 144 kph.
It dumped more than 60 centimetres of rain in places, causing landslides and flooding.
Two deaths were reported in the southwestern city of Tainan. One person died when a vehicle was struck by a falling tree, while another died after his respirator malfunctioned due to losing power.
At least 334 people suffered injuries, while more than 3,400 people were forced to evacuate, mostly from mountainous areas around the southern port city of Kaohsiung.
It is expected to make landfall again along the coast between Taizhou in Zhejiang province and Fuzhou in neighbouring Fujian province on Tuesday.
Zhejiang on Monday morning raised its typhoon emergency response to Level III.
Zhejiang has urged all coastal regions and departments to closely monitor the storm's path and implement prevention measures in line with its contingency plan. These include sheltering ships, suspending sea routes and halting construction projects.
Authorities in Guangdong province, meanwhile, called hundreds of vessels to port and evacuated more than 2,000 people from offshore facilities.
Danas earlier intensified seasonal monsoon rains in the Philippines' northern mountains, flooding low-lying villages and forcing more than 3,000 people to flee to emergency shelters. (AP/Xinhua)
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