YILAN, Taiwan: Taiwan was reeling on Wednesday from the arrival of typhoon Gaemi, with stock markets closed, people out of work and flights cancelled, while the military remained on standby amid forecast rain.
Gaemi, expected to be the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years, was scheduled to make landfall on the northeast coast on Wednesday evening, weather officials said.
It has upgraded its status to a severe hurricane, packing gusts of up to 227km/h near its center.
After crossing the Taiwan Strait, it is likely to hit Fujian Province in Southeast China on Thursday afternoon.
“The next 24 hours will present a tough challenge,” Taiwan's Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai said in a televised briefing on emergency medical centers.
In the countryside of Yilan, where the typhoon will first make landfall, the wind and rain gathered strength, closing restaurants as most of the roads were destroyed.
“This is probably the biggest typhoon in recent years,” fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding that Suao's Yilan port was full of boats seeking shelter.
“It's heading straight up the east coast and if it makes landfall here the damage will be significant.”
Work and schools were suspended across Taiwan, and the streets of the capital, Taipei, were almost deserted.
The government said more than 2,000 people had been evacuated to sparsely populated mountainous areas at risk of landslides due to “heavy rain”.
Almost all domestic flights were cancelled, along with 201 international flights, the transport minister said.
All rail operations will be suspended from noon, with a short schedule for high-speed links between northern and southern Taiwan still operating, he added.
However, TSMC, the world's largest chip maker and a major supplier to Apple, said it hoped to maintain normal production at its factory during the storm, after activating normal preparations.
SOLDIERS RISE
The typhoon is expected to bring up to 1,800mm of rain to some mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, weather officials said.
Taiwan's defense ministry said it had deployed 29,000 troops for emergency relief.
The typhoon put a strain on this year's annual Han Kuang War Games, but it has not been canceled, with live-fire exercises being held on the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
Gaemi is expected to bring heavy rain to large parts of China from Thursday, the water ministry warned.
These are areas between the Pearl River in the south and the Songhua and Liao Rivers in the northeastern border with Russia and North Korea, he said on Wednesday.
It is estimated that the rain will last until July 31, due to the humidity of the typhoon, he added.
Gaemi and the southwest monsoon brought heavy rains Wednesday to the Philippine capital region and northern provinces, halting work and schools, and suspending stock trading and foreign exchange. The storm killed 12 people.
Although typhoons can be very damaging, Taiwan relies on them to replenish reservoirs after a typically dry winter, especially in the south.
