Tropical Storm Champi nears China after battering Taiwan, Japan

TAIPEI, Oct 24: A powerful storm swept towards China on Saturday after battering Taiwan and Japan's southernmost islands, knocking out power to thousands of households and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Typhoon Champi was downgraded to a tropical storm as its wind speed dropped to 102 kilometres (63 miles) per hour, according to the latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Taiwanese authorities evacuated more than 5,000 people from their homes ahead of the storm, which toppled trees, brought down power lines and triggered brief flooding.

One person was killed and more than 600 injured since Thursday, when the government began issuing warnings about the typhoon.
Power has been restored to more than 90 percent of over 340,000 affected households, after the storm unleashed fierce winds and heavy rain over swathes of Taiwan.�" AFP