Typhoon Haikui causes destruction in coastal Taitung, Taiwan

Taiwan woke up today to toppled trees, floods, and persistent rainfall after Typhoon Haikui made landfall on the island and swept overnight across its central mountain ranges.

Haikui initially appeared to leave the island but made a second landfall early today in southwestern Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before.

Haikui, the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years, forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island.