Severe Tropical Storm Trami Hits Taiwan

Severe Tropical Storm Trami struck Wednesday in heavily populated northern Taiwan, prompting schools and offices to close down as heavy rains triggered landslides and other disruptions throughout the island.

At 5:30 p.m.(0330 GMT), the Central Weather Bureau said the center of the storm was located offshore, 100 kilometers (63 miles) northeast of the capital of Taipei, packing sustained winds of 108 kmh (68 mph) with gusts of up to 137 kmh. It was expected to complete its passage of the island’s northern coast by midnight, heading westward on a direct course toward the Chinese province of Fujian.

An increase of 10 kph in sustained wind speed would cause the storm to be upgraded to typhoon status, though forecasters were unsure if that would happen.

Earlier this week, Trami wreaked havoc in the Philippine capital of Manila and in outlying regions, leaving 15 dead, 41 injured and affecting more than 1 million people as floodwaters swamped wide swathes of the densely-populated region. President Benigno Aquino III visited emergency shelters to distribute food packs and cheer up thousands of displaced villagers.

In Taiwan, the storm had dumped 300 mm (12 inches) of rain on Taipei by nightfall Wednesday, and close to 500 mm in mountainous areas of northwestern Taiwan. With heavy rains expected to continue through most of Thursday, those totals could easily double.

Amid the downpour, a landslide closed the only road to a remote mountain community in Hsinchu county, trapping 70 residents, though authorities said no one was in danger and crews were working to redress the situation.

Other landslides were reported north of Taipei and in the central part of the island.

Late Tuesday government officials ordered schools and offices in Taipei and in some surrounding regions to close because of safety concerns. They also suspended service on the island’s high speed rail system, which links Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung.

Taiwan’s National Fire Agency reported only one injury from the storm, a 33-year-old woman whose motorbike flipped over after hitting a pothole in the Taipei district of Neihu.

The military evacuated more than 1,000 residents from an outlying island believed to be threatened by the storm, as well as 200 residents from the mountain community of Alishan, near Taiwan’s geographical center.

(Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.)