Climate and Natural Disasters

Land Warning Issued for Typhoon Champi as Strong Winds, High Waves Lash Coast

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By Klein Wang/Irene Lin

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Taiwan is bracing for severe weather as powerful Typhoon Champi approaches the eastern coast, prompting the Central Weather Administration to issue land and sea warnings ahead of schedule on Thursday morning. Sustaining core winds of 180 km/h and expanding to a massive 320-kilometer radius, the storm has already generated hazardous swells exceeding six meters. In Yilan, coast guard rescue teams are searching for a man swept into the sea by violent waves, while ferry services rushed to evacuate hundreds of people from Green Island. Meanwhile, vulnerable communities in Hualien's Guangfu township face heightened anxiety over lingering barrier lakes, loose earth and disrupted drainage systems left incomplete since last year's flooding. Four central disaster command centers have been established as authorities urge nationwide vigilance.

A man in coastal Yilan was swept away by large waves alongside his vehicle...

The coast guard has been searching for him since Wednesday afternoon... but he remains missing.

As typhoon Champi sets course toward Taiwan... large waves over six meters tall have begun to batter parts of the east coast.

In the southeastern county of Taitung, ferries took hundreds of passengers back from outlying Green Island ahead of schedule...

TAITUNG FERRY CAPTAIN:
"This typhoon is relatively big. Everyone is being more careful trying to minimize damage."

Over in Hualien... locals are still anxious about two barrier lakes collapsing.

The one formed along the Matai'an creek, which led to deadly flooding in downstream Guangfu last year, has been emptied... but its footprint holds a large amount of loose earth.

The neighboring Wan-li barrier lake remains on the highest alert... with over five million cubic meters of water held within.

And with flood control work unfinished in Guangfu... one local official worries that the river water could back up into low-lying villages... and the existing drainage system remains disrupted due to road construction.

LAMEN PANAY, HUALIEN COUNTY COUNCILOR:
"Rainwater used to flow through ditches but if it can’t all drain out now heavy rainfall will cause surface runoff to overflow everywhere. How is that water supposed to flow into the temporary storage and get pumped out? How should the drainage system be re-routed?"

Back in Taipei, the central government has ordered four disaster command centers to be set up across the east coast.

Weather authorities issued a land warning before noon on Thursday... sooner than expected.

LIN PING-YU, CENTRAL WEATHER ADMINISTRATION:
"[Typhoon Champi's] radius has grown from 280 km to 300 km at 8 a.m. to 320 km at this moment. We want to remind people that the typhoon’s cloud system looks very dense. It remains a strong typhoon with windspeeds of [180 km/h] in its eyewall."

Authorities are warning people to stay away from coastline and prepare for strong winds and heavy rain starting Friday.