Taiwan is braced for one of the strongest storms to hit the island nation in several years as Typhoon Soudelor approaches.
Self-proclaimed typhoon chaser James Reynolds was able to capture footage of strong waves battering the east coast of Taiwan in a precursor to the storm, which was the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane by Friday morning.
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The typhoon made way into north central Taiwan, between Hualien and Yilan City early Saturday morning, local time. Wind gusts to 130 miles per hour have been reported in northeastern Taiwan, and Taipei has seen gusts above 90 miles per hour so far.
Taiping Shan in Yilan County, Taiwan, has already been hit with 1 meter, or 3.2 feet, of rain while it comes down at a rate of about four inches per hour.
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Tidal surges have also begun battering the San’ao village in Wenling, East China’s Zhejiang province.
Car devoured by tidal surges during #Soudelor Typhoon in San’ao, E China’s Zhejiang Aug. 7. http://t.co/aMu8TiAY55 pic.twitter.com/CXwzsZahFU— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) August 7, 2015
High winds and heavy rain are expected to continue hitting the nation well into Saturday as Typhoon Soudelor makes its way in the westward/north westward direction, reports ABC. It is expected to bring heavy rainfall and dangerous mudslides in Taiwan's mountainous areas.
Early morning lights in #Taipei #Tienmu #Typhoon #Soudelor pic.twitter.com/WclPdmEvgL— Haluk Balkan (@twtreis) August 7, 2015
Taiwanese authorities deployed over 35,000 military personnel to help relocate residents of vulnerable areas as the typhoon made its way across the Pacific Ocean, CNN reports.