At least one person was killed and 2 injured as Typhoon Haitang pounded Taiwan Monday, forcing transportation to stop and severely harming crops.
According to Taiwan-based media, the typhoon landed at the northeastern county of Ilan around 2:50 pm (0650 GMT) Monday, weakened at 5 pm and moved west-northwest at the speed of 11 kilometers per hour.
The typhoon brought storms to some mountain areas. The Taiwan authorities has claimed 199 rivers prone to cause mud-rock flows, whose area covers 85 villages. Some villages have been evacuated.
The epicenter is expected to leave Taiwan at night and make landfall on the mainland at 5 pm Tuesday, according to the local weather bureau.
A resident in Taichung was attacked by a falling stone to death and another Taichung resident was missing, local media reported.
Influenced by the typhoon and storm, work and classes were ordered to be stopped a day, and most airlines and passenger trains on the island have been shut.
At the Taoyuan airport, 160 flights were canceled on Monday, which influenced 12,000 passengers. All the flights, trains and buses were halted in Kaohsiung.
Local agricultural administration said the continuing heavy rain has caused over 32 million new Taiwan dollars of crop loss in Taichung county and an estimated 15 million new Taiwan dollars of crop loss in Chiayi county.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2005)
