2 dead, 102 injured, 2 missing as typhoon approaches

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) Heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon had caused two deaths, injured 102 and left two people unaccounted for as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC).

The Hualien County Fire Department confirmed around 11 a.m. Tuesday that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death while trimming a tree at his home in the county's Shoufeng Township.

A meeting of the CEOC on Wednesday evening confirmed the death of a second man, 66, who was killed when the truck he was driving was hit by a huge boulder on the South Link Highway in Taimali Township Monday. Efforts to treat him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at hospital Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of an individual falling into the sea at around 1 p.m. Tuesday, however, the department had to suspend search and rescue operations due to the rough waves.

The other missing individual was swept away by the current near Shuiyuan Bridge in Hualien's Sioulin Township at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, according to witnesses who reported the incident. The fire department said they are currently searching for the individual.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior said 9,597 people had been evacuated from 12 cities and counties as of 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Of those, 475 were evacuated in New Taipei, 4 in Taichung, 113 in Nantou County, 8 in Yunlin County, 43 in Chiayi County, 463 in Tainan, 2,688 in Kaohsiung, 1,592 in Pingtung County, 95 in Yilan County, 3,064 in Hualien County, and 1,592 in Pingtung County and one in outlying Penghu.

As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, 115 shelters had been set up, with 1,896 people taking shelter, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Meanwhile, a total of 58,109 households have reported power outages due to the storm but most saw power restored with only 3,490 still without power, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said

The MOEA said power should be restored to the 3,490 households by Thursday evening.

As of 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Krathon was located 100 kilometers to the southwest of Kaohsiung and was moving northeast at a speed of 9 kilometers per hour, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed.

With a radius of 200 km, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 144 kph, with gusts of up to 180 kph, CWA data showed.

It is forecast to make landfall on Thursday morning somewhere between Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, according to the CWA.

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