Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast
Weakening Krathon expected to hit land early on Thursday
Forecast to travel up populous western coast
Cities, counties declare holiday for Wednesday
Financial markets shut, TSMC sees no major impact
Hundreds of flights cancelled
Adds details from weather forecaster in paragraph 5, scene in Taipei in paragraph 7
By Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, Oct 2 (Reuters) -Taiwan shut down on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights and closing schools, offices and financial markets ahead of the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon, forecast to lash the coast with storm surges and torrential rain.
Officials in the key port city of Kaohsiung, set to be in the eye of the storm, told people to stay home and avoid the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977's Typhoon Thelma that killed 37 and devastated the city of 2.7 million.
Although the typhoon has weakened, the threats from a storm surge, strong winds and rain remain as it slowly makes its way towards Taiwan's coast, weather forecasters said.
The typhoon would lose power once it hit land, said Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai, but would still bring intense winds and rain.
"But if it moves north, the winds will strengthen again, so the threat to Kaohsiung will continue to exist, and people cannot take this lightly," he told reporters.
Once it hits land, the typhoon could be downgraded into a tropical depression and dissipate, which has happened only once before in Taiwan, in 2001, forecasters said. That storm, called Trami, dumped vast amounts of rain leading to massive flooding.
On Wednesday, all the island's cities and counties declared a day off, shutting financial markets .TWII and cancelling domestic flights, along with 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the south and east.
In Taipei, some malls and shops remained open, with rain only expected later in the day.
Typhoons often hit Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is set to make landfall on its flat western plain.
It is forecast to hit between Kaohsiung and its neighbouring city of Tainan in the early hours of Thursday, before heading northeast up towards Taipei, the capital, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
"Because of Typhoon Gaemi being quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more cautious and prepared this time around," said sales representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, picking up sandbags at a government office, referring to July's storm that killed 11.
"First be prepared, then we can face this typhoon."
The typhoon has revived the older generation's bad memories of Thelma, prompting extra precautions, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district home to the airport.
"We were hit directly by the eyewall," he added, describing events almost five decades ago. "Power was out for two weeks and no water for almost a month. It was disastrous."
More than 700 sandbags have been distributed in his district, a record for a typhoon, while authorities are making more to meet demand, Chou said.
Taiwan's defence ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby.
The fire department reported 46 injuries, mostly in the mountainous eastern county of Taitung, with one person missing in the central county of Yunlin.
The north-south high speed rail line stayed open, but scaled back services.
TSMC 2330.TW, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, said on Tuesday it did not expect the typhoon would have a significant impact on operations.
TSMC's factories are along the west coast, some in the city of Tainan.
Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan https://reut.rs/3Ne3gpn
Reporting by Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamcher and Ann Wang; Graphic by Jackie Gu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sonali Paul
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
