Taiwanese driver recounts his narrow escape during Typhoon Kong-rey

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A ride-hailing driver recounted Friday how he had narrow escape when a huge tree smashed onto his vehicle as Typhoon Kong-rey swept over Taiwan, also sweeping away metal roofs and sending landslides onto roads and railway tracks and into houses.

Song Zi-jie had just dropped off riders in Taipei, the capital city, and was stopped at a red light on Thursday night when a tree was uprooted and fell squarely onto the passenger compartment of his car. He felt the roof hit his head and reclined his seat but couldn’t open the rear door. He lay there until police found him.

“I was so frightened that I didn’t know what to do,” said Song, who wasn’t injured despite the extensive damage to his vehicle. “It took me a while to return to normal.”

Two people died, four people are missing and 580 others were injured by Kong-rey in Taiwan. It weakened to a tropical storm after leaving the island but was still bringing heavy rain and windy conditions to Shanghai and nearby parts of China’s east coast on Friday.

Kong-rey, which is a Cambodian name, was heading northeast along the coast with winds of 83 kilometers (52 miles) per hour and could make landfall in Zhejiang province before veering back out to sea, the National Meteorological Center said.

Zhejiang authorities evacuated about 280,000 people and opened more than 10,000 emergency shelters ahead of the storm, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Both Zhejiang and neighboring Fujian province also suspended multiple ferry routes.

In Taiwan, a Czech couple who had gone missing while hiking in the mountains were found and airlifted out of Taroko National Park by helicopter on Friday. They told Taiwanese TV network EBC that they hadn't been aware of the approaching typhoon but were able to call for help with their mobile phones and mostly stayed in their tent until rescuers arrived.

The two fatalities in Taiwan were a man hit by a utility pole that fell over when a tree dragged down nearby power lines in Taipei and a Thai woman who was in a small truck that was hit by a tree.

Workers cut and cleared up fallen trees in Taipei on Friday, while schools and offices largely reopened and public services were gradually restored across Taiwan.

The typhoon passed north of the Philippines earlier in the week, prompting fresh evacuations just days after devastating Tropical Storm Trami killed at least 145 people.

Intense rainfall and flooding caused in part by Trami also killed seven people in China and eight people in Vietnam this week, Xinhua reported. The deaths in China were in Hainan province, a southern island known for its beach resorts.

Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press writer Chris Bodeen in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed.

Song Zi-jie, 28 years old ride-hailing service driver, talks about his experience a day after a tree collapsed on his car while he was inside as Typhoon Kong-rey sweeps through Taipei, Taiwan on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A sanitation worker of Taipei city government puts up a cordon at an area destroyed by the wind from Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Two car owners look at their car smashed by a row of blown roofs due to the wind of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman clears debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A man takes a photo of a car crushed by a fallen tree destroyed by the wind of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Sanitation workers of Taipei city government clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A mother and a son walk past an upside down motorbike after Typhoon Kong-rey leaves in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A motorcyclist drives past a row of upside down motorbikes after Typhoon Kong-rey leaves in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman looks at a row of blown roofs destroyed by the wind of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A man takes a photo of a car crushed by a fallen tree destroyed by the wind of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman looks at a row of blown roofs destroyed by the wind of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

People walk past an area destroyed by the wind from Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Sanitation workers of Taipei city government clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests against the project on the North Dakota prairie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

The Associated Press sent text messages and emails to media representatives for the tribe and left a voicemail at the tribe's headquarters. They didn't immediately respond Thursday.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer each welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

FILE - A sign for the Dakota Access Pipeline is seen north of Cannonball, N.D. and the Standing Rock Reservation on May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)