Typhoon barrels into China after pounding Taiwan

TAIPEI (AP) — Typhoon Maria injured two people in Taiwan and prompted more than 3,000 to be moved to shelters before making landfall in China, authorities said yesterday.

The government’s disaster response center said the two were hit by falling tree limbs in the capital Taipei on Tuesday, as the medium-strength storm passed north of the mountainous island of 23 million people.

The center said a total of 3,430 people had evacuated their homes in nine cities and counties by yesterday morning to avoid landslides triggered by heavy rainfall.

In 2009, Typhoon Morakot killed almost 700 people in Taiwan, including about 400 when their village was wiped out by flooding and landslides.

The central government issued red alerts for landslides in two mountain villages of northwestern Taiwan’s Hsinchu county, effective yesterday. Seven cities and counties ordered work and school closures for the day.

The typhoon also caused the cancellation of 138 international flights and 170 domestic flights. Its wind speeds reached 191 kilometers per hour.

Across the Taiwan Strait, schools and factories in coastal areas of the Chinese province of Fujian are closed. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated to shelters and thousands of fishing boats returned to port.