Typhoon Haitang batters Taiwan

Typhoon Haitang pounded communities along Taiwan’s north-east coast today as schools, government offices and financial markets were ordered to close.

Torrential rains whipped through the capital Taipei at daybreak while powerful winds uprooted trees and dislodged billboards in the northern part of the island. The storm’s full impact is due in the late afternoon local time, when its eye is forecast to pass a point just south of Taipei.

Taipei’s normally pulsating streets were almost deserted, and air and rail service came to a standstill.

Television pictures from the eastern coastal city of Hualien showed devastated storefronts and flooded streets.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Residents spent the last hours before the storm’s arrival loading up on provisions, and battening down doors and windows. Supermarkets were jammed, as media outlets warned of potential supply disruptions over coming days.

Premier Frank Hsieh cautioned against complacency, telling Taiwanese in the central and southern parts of the island to take precautions against the storm’s approach, despite its relatively northern course.

Typhoons and storms frequently batter Taiwan between July and September. Haitang, the Chinese name of a flower, was the first typhoon to hit the island this year.

Toraji, another typhoon that landed in Hualien in 2001, killed more than 200 people, mostly by landslides or flooding. Many people on the densely-populated island live or farm on mountain slopes that are prone to mudslides when soaked by typhoon rains.