The whole island of Taiwan went into shutdown earlier on Tuesday as it anticipated a powerful typhoon entering the country's area of responsibility. Typhoon Megi, also known as Typhoon Helen as it passed through the Philippines earlier on Monday, was expected to make full landfall in the latter part of the day but has already brought violent winds and torrential rain.
Lost and damages are already being tallied including a number of injuries and at least four deaths, mostly in the southern region of the island nation.
The related deaths included a middle aged man killed in a car accident, a 48 year old man who fell to his death as he was making repairs on the roof of a house, a 65 year old man hit by scaffolding, and a teenager who drowned soon after his boat was capsized. All the recorded deaths so far occurred in the south.
As far as injuries is concerned, according to the National Fire Agency, there are 167 so far which included tourists from Japan along with their Taiwanese tour guide as their bus was turned over by powerful winds in central Taiwan.
Earlier on Tuesday, according to the Central Emergency Operation Centre, preparations were made as the nation went into shutdown. More than 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes while about 2,000 are now in shelters. 650,000 homes have also lost power so far.
During the weekend, 3,700 tourists had already been evacuated from Orchid Island and Green Island as a means of prevention.
Regarding transportation, almost all trains have been brought to a standstill while 575 international and domestic flights were cancelled. The delay of flights on the other hand added up to 109.
At around 4:15 GMT, Megi was observed to be about 90 kilometers or 56 miles southeast of the eastern part of Hualien County. At that time, gusty winds of up to 198 kilometers or 123 miles per hour were recorded as the typhoon was moving towards landfall in Taiwan's main island at 14 kilometers or 8.7 miles an hour.
Many parts of Taiwan are still recovering from lost and damage brought upon by Typhoon Meranti, a super typhoon, earlier this month, which is considered to be the strongest storm to hit the country in 21 years.
