A young woman struggles against strong winds in Kaohsiung after Typhoon Fanapi hit Taiwan yesterday. Business stopped in the island as the typhoon made landfall, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. It injured at least 45 people, canceled flights and cut power to tens of thousands in the island. The typhoon is due to hit Fujian Province today.

TYPHOON Fanapi injured at least 45 people, canceled flights and cut power to tens of thousands in Taiwan yesterday.

Fanapi, Taiwan's most severe storm so far this year, brought 162 kph wind gusts that caused injuries by toppling scooters, breaking glass and blowing down signs, the island's disasterresponse center said.

Gusts and sustained winds of up to 126 kph grounded 120 domestic and 36 international flights. They also kept Taiwan's main port of Kaohsiung closed into the evening, though the No. 2 port in Keelung reopened in the afternoon.

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

Government officials are on extra-high alert to avoid a repeat of Taiwan's worst typhoon in five decades that triggered mudslides and killed about 700 people in August 2009.

Yesterday's storm began to abate in late afternoon, losing strength as it headed towards China's mainland, according to forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk.

The typhoon is expected to hit Fujian Province later today, where more than 186,000 people have been evacuated and all 55,000 vessels have taken shelter in harbors.

The shipping route linking Xiamen in Fujian and Jinmen in Taiwan was closed yesterday.

Education authorities in Xiamen said that all classes in primary and middle schools and kindergartens would be suspended today.

Gale with rain began in Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian, at noon yesterday, and 37 flights to and from Fuzhou Airport were canceled.

Taiwan officials were watching parts of the island for rainfall that could set off mudslides or close 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 official said.

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

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)
• disaster [di´zɑ:stə] n.灾难，不幸 (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik] a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)
• primary [´praiməri] a.主要的 n.居首位的 (初中英语单词)
• rainfall [´reinfɔ:l] n.雨量 (初中英语单词)
• affect [ə´fekt] vt.影响；感动；假装 (初中英语单词)
• response [ri´spɔns] n.回答；响应 (高中英语单词)
• tropical [´trɔpikəl] a.热带地区的 (高中英语单词)
• backbone [´bækbəun] n.脊骨；骨干；支柱 (英语四级单词)
• mainland [´meinlənd] n.大陆；本土 (英语四级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• category [´kætigəri] n.种类；部属；范畴 (英语六级单词)