Typhoon Lekima Hits Taiwan; 1 Missing at Sea

Typhoon Lekima lashed southern Taiwan on Tuesday, threatening to trigger deadly landslides and flooding on the island, which is struggling to recover from last week’s tropical storm. A Chinese freighter sank in rough seas, and the ship’s captain was missing.

People were rushing to fill more than 20,000 sandbags for reinforcements in storm-battered northern Taiwan as forecasters predicted that the storm could dump massive amounts of rain.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung called on emergency officials to plan for the worst. “We have the greatest determination to make the people’s lives and property our highest priority,” Chang said.

Hundreds of fishermen were tying down their boats in Taiwanese harbors to protect them from Lekima, named after a Vietnamese fruit tree.

A Chinese freighter sank in rough seas in the Taiwan Strait near the outlying island of Kinmen, close to China’s southern coast and so far untouched by Lekima’s fringe, officials said. Eight crew members were rescued but the captain was missing, officials said.

Lekima’s center was south of Taiwan in the Luzon Strait, which separates the island from the Philippines. Moving at 3 mph and packing 74-mph winds, the typhoon was expected to move across the southern half of Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said.

The typhoon’s edges could drench most of the island, forecasters said.

Since the weekend, stormy weather has brought steady rain to many parts of Taiwan, soaking mountainous areas prone to landslides. Mud and debris have covered several roads in the east-central county of Hualien, and some people were evacuating their villages.

Last week, Tropical Storm Nari caused flooding and landslides that killed more than 90 people. Nari also closed offices and schools in northern Taiwan and shut down the stock market for two days.

The storm caused millions of dollars in damage to agriculture and infrastructure. Large sections of the subway system in Taipei, the capital, remained closed Tuesday and might require several more weeks of repairs.

Taipei officials were concerned about water-pumping stations around the capital that were damaged by Nari and still not functioning Tuesday. If Lekima lingers over the city as Nari did, Taipei could suffer another round of severe flooding.

On Tuesday, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou admitted that the city did a poor job handling the flood. “I was not effective in protecting lives and property. I want to apologize,” he said.