Rescue teams in Taiwan are searching for a cargo ship that sank off its southern coast, carrying nine crew members.
The Tanzania-flagged freighter was near the southern port city of Kaohsiung when Typhoon Gaemi struck the region.
The storm has also caused severe flooding in the Philippines, where a tanker with nearly 1.5 million liters of industrial fuel capsized.
Sixteen crew members from the Philippine-flagged MT Terra Nova were rescued, but one remains missing, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
Typhoon Gaemi made landfall on Taiwan’s east coast on Wednesday, resulting in three fatalities and hundreds of injuries on the island.
Prior to hitting Taiwan, the typhoon intensified the already rainy conditions in the Philippines, where it caused eight deaths.
The storm is expected to make a second landfall in mainland China after moving through Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Coastguard Administration reported that the capsized freighter, Fu Shun, had nine Myanmar nationals on board.
They also noted that three other foreign vessels had run aground during the typhoon but were safe.
In the Philippines, the MT Terra Nova sank in Manila Bay while en route to the central city of Iloilo, causing an oil spill stretching several kilometers.
Authorities said strong winds and high waves were hindering their response efforts.
The Philippine coast guard reported that the tanker “capsized and eventually submerged,” and they are investigating whether bad weather contributed to the incident.
The typhoon forced Taiwan to cancel parts of its largest annual military drills, as well as almost all domestic and over 200 international flights.
The island’s Central Weather Administration issued a land warning for all of Taiwan. Authorities reported that one of the fatalities was a motorist struck by a falling tree, and another person was crushed by an overturned excavator.
Over 8,000 people have been temporarily relocated by local authorities.
Gaemi made landfall in Taiwan near Yilan county around midnight on Wednesday (16:00 GMT). The government declared a typhoon day, suspending work and classes across the island, except for the Kinmen islands.
Schools and offices remained closed on Thursday, and flights were canceled. In Taipei, supermarket shelves were left bare as residents stocked up on supplies in anticipation of price increases after the typhoon.
Initially expected to hit further north, the typhoon was redirected slightly south towards Hualien by Taiwan’s northern mountains.
The storm is predicted to weaken as it moves over Taiwan’s mountainous terrain before re-emerging in the Taiwan Strait and heading towards China.
A second landfall is expected in Fujian province later on Thursday, prompting several rail operators in China to suspend operations.
Though Gaemi did not directly hit the Philippines, it worsened the southwest monsoon, bringing heavy rain to the capital region and northern provinces.
Metro Manila, home to nearly 15 million people, was placed under a state of calamity due to overflowing rivers and creeks. Footage on social media showed small cars floating in chest-deep water and commuters stranded on the roofs of submerged buses.
The state weather bureau warned that the rains, typical for this time of year, could continue until later on Thursday.
Source-BBC
