Taiwan clears up, slowly re-opens after hit from Typhoon Krathon
Krathon downgraded to a tropical depression
Kaohsiung works to clear flooding, downed trees
Transport mostly resumed, some flights still cancelled
Death toll remains at two, both on east coast
Adds details from the scene in Kaohsiung, paragraphs 4, 5, context on typhoons hitting Taiwan, paragraph 10
By Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, Oct 4 (Reuters) -Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major metropolis, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened.
Krathon, now downgraded to a tropical depression, made landfall in the southwestern portcity of Kaohsiung, inundating streets with water, blowing out windows in some buildings and sending debris flying as record-breaking winds hit.
While the rest of Taiwan resumed work on Friday, local governments in Kaohsiung and neighbouring Pingtung county declared another day off work - the fourth in a row - to remove downed trees, pump out floodwaters and remove detritus from roads.
Workers used cranes to remove downed trees and traffic signs in Kaohsiung, a city and surrounds of2.7 million people, with some roads blocked and drivers and pedestrians diverted.
"Sandbags didn't work. The wind pressed the water in anyway," said Clark Huang, 49. "Fortunately it lasted only a couple of hours and then we started cleaning up."
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, writing on his Facebook page, said some parts of the city got more rain than during the last storm, Typhoon Gaemi, in July.
"Given the long duration of the storm, coupled with the strong winds and heavy rain, the city government is doing its best to repair the damage," he wrote.
Tsai Ming-an, a 51-year old engineer, was cleaning up his house after flooding of about 20 cm (7.8 inches) came into his entire house on the ground floor.
"I have never seen winds like that. It was so bad," Tsai said.
Typhoons almost always hit Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast which faces the Pacific Ocean, but Krathon, unusually, struck its flat west coast.
Power remained down on Friday for 100,000 households, almost all in Kaohsiung and Pingtung.
The fire department said the death toll was unchanged at two, both men killed on the east coast before the typhoon made landfall, with one person missing and 667 injuries.
Taiwan's north-south high speed rail line re-opened, as did most ordinary rail routes apart from two branch lines, though there was continued air transport disruption, with 13 international and 85 domestic flights cancelled.
At Kaohsiung port, some freight containers were blown off their stacks and workers were clearing them to ensure operations went unaffected, the transport ministry said.
Kaohsiung airport suffered damage to two air bridges, while the airport on the outlying Orchid Island had landing aids washed away, though both facilities remained open, the ministry added.
The government also said it was investigating the cause of a Pingtung hospital fire that broke out as the typhoon was bearing down, killing nine people.
Reporting by Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry and Lincoln Feast.
Ultime news
Disclaimer: le entità di XM Group forniscono servizi di sola esecuzione e accesso al nostro servizio di trading online, che permette all'individuo di visualizzare e/o utilizzare i contenuti disponibili sul sito o attraverso di esso; non ha il proposito di modificare o espandere le proprie funzioni, né le modifica o espande. L'accesso e l'utilizzo sono sempre soggetti a: (i) Termini e condizioni; (ii) Avvertenza sui rischi e (iii) Disclaimer completo. Tali contenuti sono perciò forniti a scopo puramente informativo. Nello specifico, ti preghiamo di considerare che i contenuti del nostro servizio di trading online non rappresentano un sollecito né un'offerta ad operare sui mercati finanziari. Il trading su qualsiasi mercato finanziario comporta un notevole livello di rischio per il tuo capitale.
Tutto il materiale pubblicato sul nostro servizio di trading online è unicamente a scopo educativo e informativo, e non contiene (e non dovrebbe essere considerato come contenente) consigli e raccomandazioni di carattere finanziario, di trading o fiscale, né informazioni riguardanti i nostri prezzi di trading, offerte o solleciti riguardanti transazioni che possano coinvolgere strumenti finanziari, oppure promozioni finanziarie da te non richieste.
Tutti i contenuti di terze parti, oltre ai contenuti offerti da XM, siano essi opinioni, news, ricerca, analisi, prezzi, altre informazioni o link a siti di terzi presenti su questo sito, sono forniti "così com'è", e vanno considerati come commenti generali sui mercati; per questo motivo, non possono essere visti come consigli di investimento. Dato che tutti i contenuti sono intesi come ricerche di investimento, devi considerare e accettare che non sono stati preparati né creati seguendo i requisiti normativi pensati per promuovere l'indipendenza delle ricerche di investimento; per questo motivo, questi contenuti devono essere considerati come comunicazioni di marketing in base alle leggi e normative vigenti. Assicurati di avere letto e compreso pienamente la nostra Notifica sulla ricerca di investimento non indipendente e la nostra Informativa sul rischio riguardante le informazioni sopra citate; tali documenti sono consultabili qui.
