Typhoon Gaemi: Freighter sinks off Taiwan's coast

Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center said Thursday a cargo ship had sunk after Typhoon Gaemi passed over the island overnight. Freighter Fu-Shun with a Tanzanian flag sank off the Kaohsiung Harbor coast, with nine crew members from Myanmar missing. The search operation will be carried out after conditions improve. Typhoon Gaemi made landfall in Taiwan late on Wednesday, hitting the eastern Yilan County at around 12 a.m. local time (1600 GMT Wednesday). It then moved to the Taiwan Strait early on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration said. While the intensity of the typhoon has reduced, authorities have warned residents of southern and central Taiwan that there may be flooding in the following days. About 87,000 households were without electricity as of Thursday morning, while schools, workplaces and financial markets remained closed for a second day. The superstorm brought strong winds and heavy rains to the island before its arrival, killing at least two people, according to the disaster management center — one by a falling tree and the other after part of a building fell on a car — and at least 279 more people were injured.

Typhoon Gaemi expected to be the strongest storm in 8 years
With around 29,000 soldiers on standby for disaster relief, President Lai Ching-te had urged people to "put safety first" during a morning emergency briefing on Wednesday. Lai added the next 24 hours would be crucial for the island, as there was "a very severe challenge" for emergency services and personnel to tackle. Before making landfall, Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season to affect the island, was packing maximum sustained winds of 190 kilometers (118 miles) per hour. It is estimated to bring about 1,800 millimeters or 70 inches of rain to southern and central Taiwan. The storm has already affected Japan and the Philippines, enhancing the seasonal monsoon rains in Manila. The rains set off a dozen landslides and floods over five days, killing at least eight people, according to Philippine authorities. After crossing the Taiwan Strait, Gaemi is likely to hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian late on Thursday afternoon. "This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years. It's charging directly towards the east coast and if it makes landfall here the damage would be enormous," fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters news agency.