“Winds strong enough to overturn a truck”: Typhoon Champi batters Taiwan and Japan; South Korea’s fire agency checks emergency rescue readiness

[Financial News] Typhoon No. 30, Champi, is battering Taiwan and southern Japan, causing extensive damage. Accompanied by winds “strong enough to overturn a moving truck,” the typhoon has swept across Taiwan and is expected to turn toward the Japanese islands. South Korea’s National Fire Agency has also begun checking its preparedness for a proactive response.
According to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Center on the 23rd, as Typhoon Champi approached Taiwan, one person swept away by waves died and 163 people, including Vietnamese and Indonesian nationals, were injured.
With Champi affecting the entire island, bringing maximum gusts of 191 km/h and a radius of strong winds extending 320 km, closures and school suspensions were ordered in 20 local governments, including the capital, Taipei. Taiwan’s stock market closed for the day, 977 domestic and international flights were canceled, and around 77,000 households lost power. Fearing further damage from landslides and other hazards, authorities also evacuated 2,639 residents from mountainous and disaster-prone areas. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said its factories were operating normally without significant impact from the typhoon.
Southern Okinawa in Japan also went on alert as it came within the typhoon’s direct and indirect impact zones. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Champi was moving north-northwest over waters south of Okinawa that day, maintaining its strength with a central pressure of 955 hPa (hectopascals) and maximum gusts of 60 meters per second. The Japanese government set up a crisis management center at the Prime Minister’s Office, while 59 flights between Okinawa and Kagoshima, as well as ferry services, were being canceled one after another. The agency forecast that the typhoon would cross Kyushu and Shikoku before moving across Honshu, bringing damage from heavy rain and strong winds across western and eastern Japan.

South Korea, where heavy rain is expected mainly in Jeju Island and the southern regions due to Champi’s indirect effects, has also begun taking proactive measures. On the 23rd, the National Fire Agency held a situation assessment meeting chaired by Commissioner Choi Yong-cheol and checked the nationwide readiness of firefighting resources for emergency rescue operations. Commissioner Choi instructed officials, “Even if the typhoon’s direct impact is expected to be limited, weather conditions can change at any time,” and “Please check the operational status of key equipment, including high-capacity foam discharge systems, and devote every effort to managing areas at risk of flooding or landslides.”
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter