Champi weakens after killing one and injuring hundreds in Taiwan

Typhoon Champi weakened into a tropical storm on Saturday after battering Taiwan and Japan’s southern islands with fierce winds and heavy rain, killing one person and injuring hundreds.

Taiwanese authorities said a man was swept away by waves off the island of Liuqiu. Later reports put the number of injured at more than 600, up from an earlier fire department count of 527. More than 5,000 people were evacuated before the storm, while fallen trees, damaged power lines and flooding disrupted communities across the island.

More than 340,000 Taiwanese households lost electricity, with service restored to over 90% by Saturday, according to the latest reported figures. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, and offices and schools across parts of northern and central Taiwan remained closed for a second day. Coastal Yilan County recorded at least 65 centimeters of rain after the storm made an unusual loop offshore.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Champi’s sustained winds had fallen to 102 kilometers per hour. The storm had briefly reached super typhoon strength over the Pacific, with reported sustained winds near 300 kph.

Champi also brought damaging winds to Japan’s Okinawa islands, where two people were reported injured and flights were disrupted. Chinese authorities warned of strong winds and heavy rain along the eastern coast, suspending some train services and evacuating tens of thousands of people in Shanghai. The storm was forecast to move north along China’s coast before approaching southwestern Japan and becoming an extratropical cyclone by Tuesday.