Typhoon Morakot has killed at least 124 people and left 56 missing in Taiwan as of 10 p.m. Saturday, according to local disaster response authorities.
Another 45 people were injured after the typhoon, the worst on the island in nearly five decades, wreaked havoc across central and southern regions.
Sixty-six people died in Kaohsiung, 25 in Tainan, 16 in Pingdong, six in Chiayi, seven in Nantou, three in Changhua and one in Yunlin.
Taiwan leaders, already under fire over the response to a typhoon that likely killed hundreds, have accepted foreign aid after earlier refusing the offers, officials said on Saturday, as the president apologized.
Trying to repair its image after Typhoon Morakot caused widespread landslides in southern Taiwan, the government on Friday asked major world donors for equipment, a foreign ministry official said. Aid offers were initially refused on Tuesday.
Twenty-two people were killed and seven others remain missing as typhoon “Emong” (international name: Chan-Hom) is leaving the Philippines after devastating the country’s northeastern coasts, disaster relief authorities said yesterday.
The tyhoon, locally known as Emong, has also displaced nearly 10,000 local residents since it slammed into the Northern Luzon region late Thursday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said in its latest bulletin.
MADRID: At least 10 people, including four children, were killed as high winds struck Spain and France on Saturday, tearing roofs from buildings, blowing down trees and power lines and whipping up huge waves.
The Spanish authorities said the four children were killed and several others injured near Barcelona on Saturday when the roof of a sports center collapsed in high winds. A spokeswoman for the Catalan government said the children had been sheltering from the wind in the sports hall in Sant Boi de Llobregat, just south of Barcelona, when the roof and some of the walls collapsed.
MADRID, – A storm washed away part of a wall designed to keep out illegal immigrants crossing into Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Sunday and heavy rains flooded many of the city’s streets.
Civil guard police reinforced the border near the 30-metre (yard) stretch of damaged wall, which was built to stem a flow of Africans trying to get into Spain in search of work, the Spanish government’s office in the city said.
VERACRUZ, Mexico – Tropical Storm Marco roared ashore on Mexico’s Gulf coast with near-hurricane force winds on Tuesday, prompting a shutdown of some oil platforms and forcing the evacuation of some 3,000 people.
Once over land, Marco quickly weakened to a tropical depression and was expected to dissipate as it moved over Mexico’s mountainous terrain. Forecasters still warned that rains of up to 5 inches could unleash mudslides.
The storm flooded coastal highways and brought heavy rains to the coast, including the city of Veracruz. But the busy port appeared to have escaped most of the storm’s wrath.
Typhoon Higos, the 17th tropical storm of 2008, hit China’s southern Hainan island on Friday evening, and moved on towards the mainland. it was forecast to weaken, and move northwest towards the coastal areas of western Guangdong Province.
Higos was formed on Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean, coming on the heels of tropical storms Jangmi and Hagupit, which combined killed around 20 people in China.
Those who have outdoor or travel plans this weekend may want to reconsider. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday that a low-pressure system near Guam has been upgraded to a tropical storm and may approach Taiwan this weekend.
The newly formed tropical storm is named Higos, which means “fig” in Spanish. At press time yesterday, the bureau said the center of Higos was located 610km southeast of Manila, which is about 1,600km from Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). The storm was moving northwesterly at a speed of 20kph. The radius of the storm was 200km.
CWB forecast center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said the tropical storm is near the Philippines, and its structure may be damaged by land there.
TAIPEI (AFP) — Typhoon Jangmi lashed Taiwan with heavy rain and strong winds Monday as it moved offshore, leaving two dead and forcing the closure of schools, offices and financial markets, officials said.
A further 58 people were reported to have been injured by Jangmi, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, as it was forecast to churn towards Japan.
Authorities in China ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate from the country’s southeast coast, despite the storm losing momentum as it approached the area.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan authorities have issued a sea and land warning as a powerful typhoon barrels toward the island.
The Central Weather Bureau urged residents in eastern and northern Taiwan on Saturday to beware of strong winds and heavy rains being whipped up by Typhoon Jangmi.
The bureau says that as of 12:15 p.m. (0415 GMT) Saturday, Jangmi was about 341 miles (550 kilometers) east of Taiwan’s southern tip.
