Taiwan Braces for Typhoon Gaemi's Impact

Taiwan prepares for Typhoon Gaemi, the most powerful storm in eight years. Financial markets are shut, flights canceled, and one person has died. The storm, with 227 kph winds, is set to hit Taiwan's east coast, causing widespread disruption and leading to evacuations in high-risk areas.

Taiwan hunkered down on Wednesday for the arrival of a strengthening Typhoon Gaemi, with financial markets shut, flights canceled, and one person killed while the military went on stand-by amid torrential rain. Gaemi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, is set to make landfall on the east coast late on Wednesday evening, weather authorities said. Its eye was hovering off Hualien county as of 7:15 p.m. (1115GMT).

The storm's status has been upgraded to a strong typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227 kph (141 mph) near its center. After crossing the Taiwan Strait, it is likely to strike the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian late on Thursday afternoon.

Financial markets will remain closed on Thursday, with work and school suspended for a second day, the government said. One person died, crushed by a falling tree in the southern city of Kaohsiung, according to the fire department, which also reported 58 other injuries.

"The next 24 hours will present a very severe challenge," Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told a televised emergency response meeting. In rural Yilan county, where the typhoon will first hit land, wind and rain strengthened, shutting eateries and emptying most roads.

"This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years," fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding that Yilan's harbor of Suao was packed with boats seeking shelter. "It's charging directly towards the east coast and if it makes landfall here, the damage would be enormous."

The government reported that more than 4,000 people were evacuated from sparsely populated mountain areas at high risk of landslides due to "extremely torrential rain." Almost all domestic flights had been canceled alongside 227 international flights, the transport ministry said.

On Thursday, all domestic flights will be suspended, and 185 international flights will be canceled, the ministry added. However, TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple, said it expected its factories to maintain normal production during the typhoon after enacting routine preparations.

Japanese media reported that the typhoon also canceled all flights departing from and arriving at Miyako and Ishigaki in Japan's Okinawa prefecture, which lies in the storm's path.

The typhoon is anticipated to bring up to 1,800 mm (70 inches) of rain to some mountainous counties in central and southern Taiwan, weather officials said. Taiwan's defense ministry reported putting 29,000 soldiers on stand-by for disaster relief efforts.

The typhoon has significantly affected this year's annual Han Kuang war games, though they have not been canceled, with live fire drills occurring on the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. Gaemi is expected to bring heavy to very intense rain over large areas of China from Thursday, the water resources ministry warned.

The rains are expected to last until July 31, fueled by the typhoon's abundant moisture, the ministry added. In the Philippines, Gaemi and a southwest monsoon brought heavy rain on Wednesday to the capital region and northern provinces, halting work and school activities, and suspending stock and foreign exchange trading. The storm killed 12 people.

Despite their destructive potential, Taiwan relies on typhoons to replenish reservoirs after traditionally drier winters, especially in the south.

(With inputs from agencies.)