Typhoon Haikui made landfall around 3:00 p.m. local time (07:00 GMT) this Sunday in southeastern Taiwan, with winds of up to 191 kilometers per hour that have caused alerts in a good part of the island, reports the official CNA news agency.
An hour before landfall, the storm – which reached the level of “very strong typhoon“- was moving at about 22 kilometers per hour in a west-northwest direction, according to data from the Taiwanese Central Weather Bureau (CWB).
The aforementioned institution predicts that Haikui will reach the Strait of Formosa tonight, although the outer edge of the storm will not leave the island until late Monday.
The CWB recalled that Haikui is the first major storm to hit Taiwan since Typhoon Bailu in August 2019.
Authorities evacuated hundreds of people from the Taitung areawhere Haikui made landfall, and also suspended operations on at least three rail lines on the island.