Typhoon Champi Kills One, Injures 527 in Taiwan, Nears China

One person was killed and 527 others were injured in Taiwan as Typhoon Champi swept past the island's northeast coast early Saturday, Taiwan's fire department said. Wind gusts near the storm's center were still measured at about 126km/h (78mph), according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA), even after Champi weakened from its earlier classification as a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, the Guardian reported, citing Reuters.

By Saturday morning the storm had moved about 150km (93 miles) east of Taiwan, the CWA said, after glancing off the island's northeast coast overnight.

How many people were killed and injured in Taiwan?

Taiwan's fire department said one man died after being swept by waves off the island of Liuqiu. Another 527 people were injured during the storm's heavy wind and torrential rain, the fire department said. Taipower, the state utility, said more than 167,000 homes lost electricity at the storm's peak, though it said most connections had been restored by Saturday.

More than 167,000 homes lost power during Champi's passage, Taipower said, with most service restored by Saturday morning.

When and where did Champi make its closest pass to Taiwan?

Champi brushed Taiwan's northeast coast in the early hours of Saturday before pulling away offshore. By midday the CWA placed the storm's center roughly 150km east of the island, still generating gusts near 126km/h. The storm uprooted trees and downed power lines across affected areas, contributing to the outages Taipower reported.

Where is Typhoon Champi headed next?

The CWA's forecast track has Champi turning north toward the Chinese coast before the system eventually moves into southern Japan, the agency said. The storm's weakening trend — from super-typhoon strength to its current gusts of about 126km/h — suggests further loss of intensity as it tracks north, though the CWA's published path does not specify a landfall point in China.

Why are Taipei schools, offices and flights still shut down?

Large parts of northern and central Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, declared a second consecutive day of office and school closures on Saturday, and some flights remained canceled, according to the Guardian's report. Taiwan is generally well prepared for typhoons — a readiness officials credit with keeping casualty counts low relative to storm intensity — and closures of this kind are a standard precaution while gusts and flooding risk remain elevated, even as the storm's center moves offshore. Although typhoons are more common in summer, the Guardian noted they can also strike in autumn, as Champi has.

What should residents and travelers watch next?

• Storm track toward China: Whether Champi continues weakening as it approaches the Chinese coast, per the CWA's forecast.
• Power restoration: Whether Taipower completes reconnections beyond the roughly 167,000 homes already restored.
• Flight schedules: Additional cancellations or resumptions as Taiwan's airports assess conditions.
• School and office reopenings: Whether Taipei and other northern and central areas lift the second day of closures.
• Japan's exposure: Whether the storm retains enough strength to affect southern Japan after its China approach.

Key terms

• Super typhoon: A classification Taiwan's CWA and regional agencies apply to the most intense typhoons, based on sustained wind speed thresholds; Champi carried this label before weakening.
• CWA: Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, the government body issuing official storm-track and wind-speed data cited in this report.
• Gust: A brief, sharp increase in wind speed above the sustained average; the 126km/h figure from the CWA refers to gusts near Champi's center, not sustained winds.
• Storm track: The forecast path a tropical system is expected to follow, here showing Champi curving north toward China before reaching southern Japan.

The Guardian's original report did not specify a timeline for full power restoration or confirm an exact China landfall location.

What other damage did Champi cause in Taiwan?

Beyond the casualty and power figures, the storm's winds toppled infrastructure tied to local events. In Keelung, a structure built for a traditional Taoist religious ceremony collapsed under Champi's winds, according to a photograph credited to AFP/Getty Images and published alongside the Guardian's report. Separate images from Keelung showed waves generated by the typhoon crashing against a seawall, Reuters photographs showed. The fire department's casualty and injury tally did not break out property-damage estimates tied to these incidents.