Global
Typhoon Champi Sweeps Past Taiwan, Leaving One Dead and 527 Injured
Once a super typhoon, Champi glanced Taiwan's northeast coast, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and cancelled hundreds of flights before weakening toward the Chinese coast.
Photo: NASA / NOAA-20 VIIRS (Public domain).
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, October 24, 2026, killing one person and injuring 527, downing trees and cutting power as it weakened and headed north toward the Chinese coast, Reuters reported.
At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi glanced the island's northeast coast in the early hours of Saturday. Its centre turned south around midnight, hugging the Yilan coastline in a rare loop offshore before moving away northward, with gusts reaching about 227 kilometres per hour in some coastal areas, knocking down power lines and sending roof tiles flying.
Taiwan's fire department said the death toll remained at one, a man swept away by waves from the island of Liuqiu. Most of the 527 injuries occurred during heavy wind and torrential rain. State power company Taipower said more than 288,000 homes had lost electricity at the peak, though most had been reconnected. The transport ministry said 242 flights were cancelled on Saturday, an improvement from Friday, when the number was almost 1,000.
A swathe of northern and central Taiwan, including Taipei, declared a second day of office and school closures on Saturday. In the capital, there were downed trees and on-off squally rain showers. Taiwan is generally well prepared for typhoons, which keeps casualties low, although storms can strike in autumn as well as summer.
The storm's forecast track shows it turning north, tracking up the Chinese coast and eventually moving into southern Japan, though it was not expected to make landfall in China. China's emergency management ministry sent a team to the eastern province of Zhejiang as Champi approached, warning of strong winds and heavy rain through Sunday. It said 400 rescue workers and 600 pieces of equipment had been readied, while more than 41,000 firefighters were on emergency duty. In Taizhou, a city on Zhejiang's coast, more than 3,800 fishing boats returned to harbour, offshore fish-farm workers were brought ashore and 2,084 island visitors were evacuated, while authorities halted 25 offshore construction projects and suspended 18 passenger ferry routes.
Source: Reuters
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