Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Champi, which is forecast to bring strong winds and torrential rain, and though the storm is weakening, it could still make direct landfall on the island.
At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was still packing gusts of around 191 kph (119 mph) near its centre, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA).
The storm was about 220 km east of Taiwan, the CWA said. The storm's forecast track shows it will pass just off northeastern Taiwan, turn north toward the Chinese coast and eventually move into southern Japan.
One person was killed and 171 were injured in Taiwan, where the government said 2,639 people had been evacuated from mountainous areas. Taipower said more than 77,000 homes had lost power, though electricity had already been restored to most.
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