Climate and Natural Disasters

Cleanup Underway as Typhoon Champi Leaves Over 9,000 Damage Reports

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By Alex Chen/Irene Lin

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As Typhoon Champi tracks northward toward Japan, Taiwan has begun clearing up the extensive destruction left in the storm's wake. The Central Weather Administration lifted all typhoon warnings after Champi brought gusts and extreme downpours across northern and eastern counties. Emergency operations centers received reports of over 9,000 cases of damage, one fatality, and more than 600 injuries. In Yilan's Nanfang'ao, strong winds blew a shipping container into a house and snapped boat mooring cables. Meanwhile, Taipei and Keelung municipal governments mobilized district crews to clear roads ahead of Monday morning. Forecasters note that Champi's intense strength was fueled by significantly warmer ocean temperatures driven by this year's strong El Niño phenomenon.

As weather calms... recovery begins.

Here in Taiwan’s eastern county of Yilan, powerful guts from Typhoon Champi pushed this shipping container into a house, crushing parts of the structure.

Its resident, Ms. Hung, is still processing what happened.

MS. HUNG, YILAN RESIDENT: "It made a huge sound. The huge shipping container kept being pushed closer and closer and finally slammed into our house. I thought, how could this typhoon be so powerful?"

Meanwhile at a nearby fishing port... ropes used to moor boats were no match for the powerful gusts.

MS. CHANG, BOAT OWNER: "The side of this boat has broken off becasue of the typhoon. The mooring ropes have all snapped. Tell me, who should bear the losses?"

Over four million US dollars in agricultural damage has been recorded across the country... most of it from central Taiwan's Yunlin, New Taipei and Yilan.

On Sunday afternoon, Premier Cho Jung-tai and the agriculture minister went to Yilan's tangerine orchards

Typhoon Champi has also left trails of damage in areas further north.

Mountain villages in Hsinchu County evacuated thousands of residents... before roads could be blocked by debris.

Overall, officials counted over nine thousand damage reports by Saturday evening... with one person dead and over six hundred injured.

In Taipei, where most damage was reported, workers are scrambling to get roads clear before Monday.

CHIANG WAN-AN, TAIPEI MAYOR: "For neighborhood parks and alleys less than eight meters wide district offices expect to restore access by the end of [Sunday]. As for larger parks and green spaces as well as mountainous regions we aim to complete work within a week."

The Central Weather Administration lifted typhoon warnings on Saturday evening.

While the immediate threat has passed, it says the conditions behind this year's frequent, powerful storms remain a concern.

LIN PING-YU, CENTRAL WEATHER ADMINISTRATION: "[Champi] is among the strongest typhoons this year alongside Bavi, Sinlaku, and Dolphin. The reason these typhoons have been so powerful is largely related to this year’s superpowerful El Niño. which has caused temperatures to be higher than normal."

And as Typhoon Champi weakens and moves away... another typhoon has formed in the Pacific Ocean... its path still unclear.

For communities still picking up the pieces... the hope is that the new storm will not be coming for Taiwan.