Super Typhoon Nepartak sweeps through Taiwan

TAIPEI — Super typhoon Nepartak swept through Taiwan on July 8. Two days prior, Nepartak intensified from a tropical storm to a category 5 typhoon.

So far, one death and one injury have been reported by the Taiwan Central Emergency Operations Center.

The typhoon made landfall early Friday about 10 miles south of Taitung City with sustained winds at 150 mph. According to The Weather Channel, Nepartak landed as a category 4 storm. Some locations have already seen more than 12 inches of rain that morning.

More than 15,000 people have been evacuated. A total of 302 international flights were canceled and the rail services were suspended, and more than 110,000 houses lost electricity.

Infrared Satellite imagery of Nepartak exhibited a large eye and near perfect symmetry as it moved towards the island nation.

The storm is expected to last through the day.

Nepartak breaks a record-long storm-free streak for the western Pacific. The last named storm hit in December 2015, nearly 200 days ago, according to AccuWeather.