Taiwan suspends work due to typhoon Krathon; Heavy rains are forecast

Authors: Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) – Taiwan suspended flights on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights and closing schools, offices and financial markets ahead of the arrival of weakening Typhoon Krathon, which is forecast to batter the coast with storm surges and heavy rain.

Officials in the key port city of Kaohsiung, which could be in the eye of the storm, advised people to stay home and avoid the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977’s Typhoon Thelma, which killed 37 people and destroyed the city of 2.7 million .

Forecasters say that although the typhoon has weakened, the threat of storms, strong winds and rain still lingers as it slowly approaches the coast of Taiwan.

The typhoon will lose power after making landfall, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai said, but it will still bring intense winds and rain.

“But if it moves north, the winds will strengthen again, so the threat to Kaohsiung will still exist, and people cannot ignore it,” he told reporters.

Forecasters say that once a typhoon makes landfall, it could develop into a tropical depression and dissipate, which happened only once in Taiwan in 2001. This storm, called Trami, dropped huge amounts of rain, causing massive flooding.

On Wednesday, all the island’s cities and counties declared a day off, closing financial markets and canceling domestic flights as well as 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mainly in the south and east.

In Taipei, some malls and stores remained open, with rain expected later in the day.

Typhoons often hit Taiwan’s mountainous and sparsely populated eastern coast, which faces the Pacific Ocean, but Krathon is expected to make landfall on the flat western plain.

It was forecast to hit between Kaohsiung and the neighboring city of Tainan in the early hours of Thursday before heading northeast toward the capital Taipei, the Central Meteorological Administration (CWA) said.

“Since Typhoon Gaemi was quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more careful and prepared this time,” said trade representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, as he collected sandbags at a government office, referring to the July storm that killed 11 people.

“Be prepared first, and then we can face the typhoon.”

The typhoon revived bad memories of Thelma for the older generation, prompting extra precautions, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district, where the airport is located.

“We hit the eye directly,” he added, describing the events from almost fifty years ago. “There was no electricity for two weeks and no water for almost a month. It was a disaster.”

Chou said more than 700 sandbags have been distributed in his district, a record for a typhoon, while authorities are spending more to meet demand.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby.

The fire department reported 46 injuries, mostly in mountainous eastern Taitung County, and one person was missing in central Yunlin County.

The north-south high-speed rail line remained open but services were reduced.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, said Tuesday it did not expect the typhoon to have a significant impact on operations.

TSMC factories are located on the west coast, some in the city of Tainan.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamcher and Ann Wang; Graphics by Jackie Gu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sonali Paul)