Taitung County

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) Three people have died and 142 others have been injured as typhoon Nepartak brought heavy rain and strong winds to southeastern Taiwan early Friday, according to government data.

Those killed include a man who drowned in Chishingtan lake in Hualien County, a soldier found dead after falling into the sea on Dongyin Islet of the Penghu archipelago, and a 71 year-old woman who died from severe wounds after being hit by a falling wardrobe, the data published in the Emergency Management Information Cloud showed.

The statistics compiled by the National Fire Agency also indicated that a total of 142 people were injured during the onslaught of Nepartak, which pummeled much of Taiwan with strong gusts and heavy rain.

Meanwhile, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau under the Council of Agriculture said that although Nepartak had left Taiwan by Friday evening, part of the country remained under the threat of torrential rain due to the effects of the periphery of the storm.

As a result, it maintained its landslide warning for 456 rivers in Taiwan's southern, eastern and southeastern counties and city of Taitung, Hualien, Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Chiayi, the bureau said.

As of 8:30 p.m., Nepartak was centered around 60 kilometers south-southeast of Penghu, moving at a speed of 11-14 kph in a north-northwesterly direction toward southeast China, according to the latest data from the Central Weather Bureau.

With a radius of 200 km, the storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of 144 kph, with gusts of up to 180 kph on Friday evening, the data showed.

Nepartak was initially a strong typhoon with sustained winds of more than 190 kph, but was downgraded because it was weakened by Taiwan's mountains after making landfall.

(By Chiu Po-sheng and Elizabeth Hsu)
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