Taiwan orders evacuations as season's first typhoon approaches
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 10 July 2018
- Modified Date: 01:01 | 10 July 2018
Taiwan has ordered hundreds of residents in the island's north to evacuate to safety ahead of the arrival of this season's first typhoon.
Some flights operating out of the main Taoyuan airport were also canceled Tuesday, with mid-strength Typhoon Maria expected to cover Taiwan with heavy rainfall and sustained winds of up to 191 kilometers per hour (119 miles per hour) after 8 p.m.
Taiwan is expected to feel the effects through midday Wednesday before Maria moves west and makes landfall in China.
In Yilan county's Pacific coast village of Yingshi, 274 villagers left their homes amid moderate rainfall. A total of 400 have been asked to evacuate.
Landslides are a particular concern on the mountainous island. A slide buried a village in a 2009 typhoon, killing about 700.