1 dead, more than 300 injured as Typhoon Koinu sweeps parts of Taiwan

By SIMINA MISTREANU
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Koinu is sweeping southern Taiwan. One person has died and more than 300 have been injured. The typhoon’s rain and record-breaking winds have led the island to suspend flights and close schools and offices. Koinu, which means “puppy” in Japanese, made landfall early Thursday in Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves west toward the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of southern China. The typhoon brought the fastest-ever wind recorded in Taiwan as it approached on Wednesday night. A weather monitoring station on the outlying Orchid Island measured a gust of 212.9 mph. That’s the highest windspeed Taiwan has recorded since it began keeping track in 1897.