Typhoon slams into Taiwan; killing two, injuring 66

It has killed two people and injuring 66 others. Planes and fishing boats were grounded, while more than 15,000 people were evacuated. Typhoon Nepartak made landfall this morning in Taitung county before weakening to a medium-strength typhoon, the island’s Central Weather Bureau reported.

 The typhoon’s center was located 20 kilometres east of the city of Kaohsiung early on Friday and was moving northwestward at a speed of 13 km per hour, the bureau said.

The typhoon was likely to continue to slow, but disaster response officials said they remained concerned that the heavy rains would trigger floods and landslides in the rugged terrain.

 Li Wei-sen, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Centre spokesman, said by phone that the typhoon was packing winds of up to 163 kmh. About 390,000 households had been affected by power cuts, most of them in Pingtung and Taitung counties.