TAIPEI: Super-typhoon Dujuan battered Taiwan leaving 24 injured as torrential rain and fierce winds hit on Monday evening, while China issued its top alert as the storm approached the mainland.

Dujuan struck the island’s northeastern tip earlier than expected after picking up speed as it approached, with more than 7,000 people evacuated in advance. Most of the 24 people hurt suffered minor injuries, the island’s Emergency Operation Center said, many of them hit by flying debris.

More than 330,000 homes are without electricity after almost a million lost power at the height of the storm, the emergency centre said. About 2,000 people were spending the night in temporary shelters.

Waves crashed along the east coast and the capital Taipei was hit with wind and rain as the typhoon moved south.

At 9:00 pm Dujuan was 30 kilometres southeast of central Taichung city, the Central Weather Bureau said.

The bureau said “virtually the whole island” was at risk of severe wind and rain, with authorities warning downpours could trigger landslides.

Published in Dawn September 29th, 2015

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