Taiwan: Typhoon Champi leaves 1 dead, over 500 injured

Typhoon Champi killed at least one person and left more than 500 people with injuries as it passed through Taiwan on Saturday.

Taiwan's fire department said the death toll remained at 1, after a man was swept away by waves from the island of Liuqiu. At least 527 others were injured during the heavy wind and torrential rain.

Several parts in Taiwan received heavy rain and strong winds that prompted authorities to cut off power, leaving thousands of people without power supply.

Some 280,000 households were knocked out of power, according to United Daily News, a local Taiwanese newspaper. By Saturday morning, the power supply was restored to 80% of the households.

Champi also led to 259 flights cancellations, an improvement from Friday, when the number was almost 1,000, the Transport Ministry said.

Several trees were downed amid strong gusts In the capital Taipei.

Authorities in several districts of northern and central Taiwan, including Taipei, declared a second day of office and school closures on Saturday.

Champi headed to China

The typhoon continued to weaken as it moved north towards the Chinese coast though it was not expected to make landfall there.

Chinese authorities have sent a team to the eastern province of Zhejiang as Champi approached, warning of strong winds and heavy rain through Sunday.

It said it had readied 400 rescue workers and 600 pieces of equipment, while more than 41,000 firefighters were on emergency duty.

Typhoon Champi started out as a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year. While it is weakening, Champi is still packing gusts of around 78 km/h (126 mph) near its center, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA).