2010-09-19 20:01

A big wave smashes into a breakwater as Typhoon Fanapi hits the northeastern coastal town of Toucheng in Ilan county September 19, 2010. Business stopped in Taiwan on Sunday as the mid-strength typhoon with wind gusts of up to 198 kph (123 mph) made landfall, bringing heavy rains and strong wind gusts as officials scrambled to prevent a repeat of the devastation caused by a 2009 storm. [Agencies]

TAIPEI - A typhoon injured 45 people, cancelled flights and cut power to tens of thousands in Taiwan on Sunday, keeping officials on high alert to stop any repeat of a deadly storm last year.

Typhoon Fanapi, Taiwan's most severe storm so far in 2010, brought 162 kph (101 mph) maximum wind gusts that caused injuries by toppling scooters, breaking glass and blowing down signs, the region's disaster response centre said.

Gusts and sustained winds of up to 126 kph grounded 156 flights. They also kept Taiwan's main port of Kaohsiung closed into the evening, though the No.2 port in Keelung had reopened in the afternoon.

More than 63,000 households lost power on Sunday, the disaster centre said. But Taiwan's top high-tech firms, a backbone of the economy, reported no major impact from the storm.

Officials are on extra-high alert after Taiwan's worst typhoon in five decades triggered mudslides that killed about 700 people in August 2009.

Sunday's storm began to abate in the late afternoon, losing strength as it tracked towards the southeast of the Chinese Mailand, including Hong Kong, according to forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan officials were still watching parts of the island for heavy rainfall that could set off mudslides or sever roads.

"The typhoon is getting gradually weaker, but heavy rain from its outer layers could still affect Taiwan's southern regions, and that's something we need to pay attention to," a disaster centre media liaison official said.

Fanapi, initially a category 3 typhoon on a 1-5 scale, was expected to reach Guangdong province as a category 1 or a tropical storm, which is one level below the weakest typhoon.

Typhoons regularly hit China, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land.