One person was killed as Typhoon Soulik slammed into Taiwan, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain. Source: AAP
TYPHOON Soulik has battered Taiwan with torrential rain and powerful winds, leaving one person dead and at least 30 injured.
Roofs were ripped from homes, debris and fallen trees littered the streets and some areas were submerged by flood waters during Saturday's wild weather.
One town in central Taiwan reported "widespread" landslides and water levels a storey high.
More heavy rain and strong winds are predicted throughout Saturday with the authorities warning of further landslides and flooding.
Around 8000 people were evacuated from their homes before the typhoon struck, with hundreds of soldiers deployed to high-risk areas and the whole island declared an "alert zone" by the authorities.
In the capital Taipei, a 50-year-old police officer died after being hit by bricks that came loose during the typhoon, the Central Emergency Operation Centre said.
Three people were left seriously injured with 31 reported hurt across the island, most injured by trees or flying debris.
Soulik made landfall on the northeast coast around 3am Saturday (0600 AEST), packing winds of up to 190km/h, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.
"Heavy rains are expected throughout the day, especially in the mountainous areas in the centre and south," a weather forecaster from the bureau told AFP.
Strong winds were also predicted, he said, but added that the CWB was likely to lift the current land warning on Saturday night as the threat from the typhoon diminishes and it churns towards mainland China.
Nine people were rescued from flooded homes in the Shiangshan area of Puli, a town in central Nantou county, which was also hit by landslides.
"The water came very fast, catching residents totally unprepared - in some areas, it was one-storey deep," township official Wu Yuan-ming told AFP.
The nine caught in the floodwaters were rescued by firefighters in rubber boats after the river broke its banks, Wu said.
"Flooding and landslides were widespread in the town, especially in the areas near mountains," he added, calling the effects of the typhoon "more serious than we predicted".
Landslides reached the backyards of residents' homes but they had already evacuated, Wu said.
A major landslide on a mountain road leading to Taian, a central town famous for its hot spring resorts, was also reported by local media.
The northern village of Bailan saw the heaviest rain, measuring 900mm over the past two days, with winds gusting up to 220km/h.
Streets were submerged under 30cm of seawater in the port city of Keelung, the National Fire Agency said, with flooding also reported in the coastal area of Yilan and in New Taipei City, the area surrounding the capital.
Low-lying houses along the Hsintien River through greater Taipei were flooded, including one aboriginal village from which residents had been evacuated Friday, a police officer told AFP.
Local television showed roofs ripped from homes in northern Keelung and in Taipei, where 120km/h winds and downpours disrupted power, uprooted trees and left the streets strewn with rubbish.
Across Taiwan, electricity supplies in nearly 800,000 homes were down but half had been restored by Saturday afternoon, according to the Taiwan Power Company.
Around 170 flights into and out of Taiwan were cancelled or delayed, while offices and schools remained closed, with the public advised to stay indoors.
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