Two people have been injured and tens of thousands of homes were left without power as Typhoon Haikui made landfall in Taiwan, the island’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Sunday.

The two injured people were traveling in a van when a tree fell on the vehicle, “leaving them trapped inside,” CNA said.

They suffered injuries but were conscious and taken to hospital, it added.

The storm made landfall along the southeastern coastal township of Donghe at about 3:40 p.m. local time, the weather bureau said. More than 3,700 people were evacuated from high-risk areas after Haikui hit, CNA reported.

According to state-run Taiwan Power Co., 74,925 homes and businesses across Taiwan lost power on Sunday, mainly in Taitung and Hualien counties. By 6 p.m. local time, electricity had been restored to 42,702 of them, according to CNA.

The capital Taipei is currently experiencing heavy rains.

The weather bureau said Typhoon Haikui was moving westwards at a pace of 7 kilometers (4 miles) per hour with winds of up to 155 kilometers per hour (96 miles per hour).

Haikui is the first typhoon in four years to directly hit Taiwan and is expected to bring heavy rainfall to eastern regions, according to the weather bureau.

It warned that heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding and landslides in parts of the country. The mountainous Hualien county could see total precipitation of more than 500 millimeters, it added.

The typhoon was previously expected to make landfall near the southeastern city of Taitung around 5 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Seven counties and cities in southern and eastern Taiwan suspended school and work for Sunday, according to the respective local governments.

In addition, Yunlin county and the outlying Penghu county will suspend school and work from Sunday noon. The southwest cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung and five counties across the island announced that schools and offices would be closed Monday, CNA reported.

CNA added that 246 flights in and out of Taiwan, mainly on domestic or regional routes, had been delayed or canceled through 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.

In neighboring Hong Kong, at least 86 injuries were reported from another typhoon, Saola, which made landfall in the city after passing through the northeastern Philippines.

In an update on Saturday, Hong Kong authorities said they had received more than 1,500 reports of fallen trees, 21 cases of flooding and two reports of landslides.

That typhoon has since weakened to a tropical storm but left in its wake hundreds of canceled and disrupted flights.

Source: CNN