Haikui triggers Taiwan evacuation

More than 2,800 people across seven cities were evacuated and over 200 domestic flights were canceled Sunday in Taiwan as typhoon Haikui made landfall.

Packing a sustained wind speed of about 140 kilometers per hour, Haikui was spotted 180 kilometers east of Taiwan at 9 a.m. and made landfall at 3:40 p.m. in Taitung, a mountainous county in the lesser-populated eastern part of the island, the Central Weather Bureau said.

CWB's deputy director Fong Chin-tzu said Haikui has gathered some strength since Saturday and would move west to the Taiwan Strait by Monday.

"I remind the people to make preparations for the typhoon and watch out for your safety, avoid going out or any dangerous activities," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen warned.

The evacuation was concentrated in the northeastern coastal Yilan county where towering waves slammed against the shore.

The military had mobilized soldiers and equipment — such as amphibious vehicles and inflatable rubber boats — around the parts of Taiwan where Haikui is expected to have the heaviest impact.

The last major storm to hit Taiwan was typhoon Bailu in 2019, which left one person dead.

Haikui is expected to be less severe than Saola, which bypassed Taiwan but triggered the highest threat level in nearby Hong Kong and southern China before it weakened into a tropical storm by Saturday.

WITH AFP