4,000 People Evacuated as Typhoon Haikui Hits Taiwan

Taipei – Typhoon Haikui hit eastern Taiwan on Sunday, bringing fierce winds and plunging thousands of households into darkness. Nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas, hundreds of flights were cancelled, and businesses closed in preparation for the storm. 

President Tsai Ing-wen called on the public to exercise caution and said "Haikui will be the first typhoon to hit Taiwan in the past four years,"

Tsa Ing-wen asked people to avoid going outdoors and not climb mountains, not go to the beach, fish, or do water sports.

Fong Chin-tzu, deputy director of Taiwan's weather bureau said that Haikui authorities have been "gathering strength to get through this storm, since yesterday,”

Taiwan has also soldiers and other equipment such as amphibious vehicles and inflatable boats. 

Haikui is considered a weaker storm than Saola According to the Tropical Storm Risk tracker, Typhoon Haikui is expected to be a category one or two typhoon when it hits Taiwan. 

It’s also considered a much "smaller" storm compared to Typhoon Saola which hit Hong Kong and southern China on Saturday. 

And, this is also expected to cross the Taiwan Strait into China. Taiwan last experienced a storm in 2019 called Typhoon Bailu which claimed several lives.