Typhoon Sepat tears into Taiwan
Pastor Dale Morgan
Typhoon Sepat tears into Taiwan*
* Story Highlights
* NEW: Flights canceled at airports in Taipei and Kaohsiung
* Typhoon Sepat expected to hit Kaohsiung and Taichung early Saturday
* China's Fujian province bracing for Sepat Saturday evening or
Sunday morning
* Major roads outside Manila flooded with water up to 1.5 meters deep
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -- A super-strength typhoon that brought
flooding to parts of the Philippines tore into Taiwan on Friday, forcing
the cancellation of flights and sending coastal residents rushing to
secure their homes.
Filipino students wade through floodwaters as they walk outside their
school in Manila Wednesday.
Waves swelled, winds picked up and rain battered the north of the island
as Typhoon Sepat made landfall, a disaster-relief official and local
media said. Two counties ordered class and work stoppages effective
Friday afternoon, TV stations reported.
"There's already a huge wind, and waves hitting the coast pose a
danger," said Fei Yu, a resident of coastal Taitung County. "Most people
living here are making preparations at home to ride out the storm."
In the southern city of Kaohsiung, 16 domestic flights and one
international flight were canceled.
All flights from Taipei's domestic airport were due to stop in the
evening. The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, near Taipei, also
canceled southbound flights to avoid the storm.
Sepat will probably smack into the cities of Kaohsiung and Taichung,
both with populations of more than 1 million, early on Saturday and then
pummel the Chinese coast, according to Tropical Storm Risk.
The eye of the category 5 typhoon was 320 km (200 miles) off the coast
of Taiwan as of 0500 GMT, packing sustained winds of 184 kph (114 mph)
and gusts up to 227 kph (141 mph).
China's southeastern province of Fujian was bracing for the typhoon to
make landfall on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, the official Xinhua
news agency said.
Typhoons draw strength from warm waters of the South Pacific and South
China Sea, regularly targeting the Philippines, Japan, China, Taiwan and
Hong Kong over the summer, sometimes with catastrophic effect.
Rains exacerbated by Typhoon Sepat continued to soak Manila and
surrounding provinces on Friday after the cyclone brought the Philippine
capital to a near standstill two days earlier with major roads near
Manila under water up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep in places.
Schools remained shut in the capital and the north of the country, while
the government suspended work in public offices from 1 p.m. (0500 GMT)
to let employees get home before flooding made roads impassable.
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Some areas of the city were already submerged in waist-deep waters.
Power failed in parts of the capital due to the strong winds and rains.
In neighboring Rizal province, authorities urged residents in
landslide-prone areas to evacuate their homes.
Also on Friday, local airlines Asian Spirit and Cebu Pacific cancelled
flights around the Philippines.