Typhoon Megi kills 4, leaves trail of damage in Taiwan

The third typhoon to hit Taiwan in two weeks killed four persons and injured scores on Tuesday, bringing violent winds and heavy rain as schools and offices closed.

Typhoon Megi forced thousands to evacuate their homes and wreaked havoc with rail and road networks as it made landfall in the eastern county of Hualien in the early afternoon.

A man aged 40 years died in a car accident in high winds, while a 65-year-old man was killed when he was hit by falling scaffolding, and a 17-year-old boy drowned when his boat overturned, authorities said, with the deaths all in the south. Also in the south, a 48-year-old man fell to his death as he was repairing the roof of a house.

At least 167 people were injured, including seven Japanese tourists and a guide when their bus was bowled over by winds on a highway in central Taiwan, according to the national fire agency.

Billboards and scaffolding were torn down, while trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off. TV footage showed waves surging past breakwaters in the northeastern county of Yilan and outlying Orchid Island.

Over 11,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and nearly 3,000 are in shelters, according to the Central Emergency Operation Centre. Over two million households have lost power and more than 35,000 households are without water. Four hundred international and domestic flights were cancelled as of today afternoon, and over 400 delayed. Most trains and ferries were halted.

In Taipei, which was also lashed by rains and winds, bus services and overground metro trains were suspended.