YILAN, Taiwan: Taiwan braced for the arrival of strengthening Typhoon Gaemi on Wednesday, with financial markets closed, citizens on holiday and flights cancelled, while the military remained on standby ahead of forecasts of torrential rains.
Gaemi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, is set to make landfall on the northeastern coast on Wednesday evening, meteorological authorities said.
They elevated its status to a powerful typhoon, with gusts of up to 227 km/h in the central area.
After crossing the Taiwan Strait, it is likely to hit China's southeastern province of Fujian late Thursday afternoon.
“The next 24 hours will be a very serious challenge,” Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told a televised meeting of the emergency response center.
In rural Yilan County, where the typhoon will first hit land, winds and rain have gathered strength, causing restaurants to close and most roads to be empty.
“This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years,” fishing vessel captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding that Suao port in Yilan was crowded with boats seeking shelter.
“It's heading straight for the East Coast and if it were to make landfall here the damage would be enormous.”
Work and school were suspended across Taiwan, and the streets of the capital Taipei were nearly deserted.
The government said more than 2,000 people had been evacuated from sparsely populated mountain areas at high risk of landslides due to “extremely torrential rains”.
Nearly all domestic flights have been cancelled, along with 201 international flights, the transport ministry said.
All rail operations will be halted from noon, with a shortened schedule for high-speed links between northern and southern Taiwan, which will continue to operate, it 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 making routine preparations.
SOLDIERS WAITING
According to meteorologists, the typhoon is expected to bring up to 1,800 mm of rain to some mountainous counties in central and southern Taiwan.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it has deployed 29,000 troops to help with disaster relief efforts.
The typhoon severely limited this year's annual Han Kuang war games, but they have not been canceled: scheduled live-fire exercises were held on Wednesday on the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Gaemi will bring heavy to very heavy rains to large parts of China starting Thursday.
These include areas ranging from the Pearl River basin in the south to the Songhua and Liao river basins on the northeastern border with Russia and North Korea, it said on Wednesday.
The rains are expected to last until July 31, fueled by abundant moisture from the typhoon, he added.
Gaemi and a southwest monsoon brought heavy rains to the Philippine capital region and northern provinces on Wednesday, shutting down work and schools and suspending stock and foreign exchange trading. The storm killed 12 people.
Although typhoons can be very destructive, Taiwan relies on them to replenish its water supplies after traditionally drier winters, especially in its southern part.
