Taiwan girds for weakening Typhoon Krathon, shuts down for second day
World
Krathon is forecast to make landfall as a much weaker category 2 typhoon around midday Thursday
KAOHSIUNG (Reuters) – Taiwan on Thursday girded itself for the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon, which has killed two people so far, as the island shut down for a second day with hundreds of flights grounded and financial markets closed.
Krathon is forecast to make landfall as a much weaker category 2 typhoon around midday at the major southwestern port city of Kaohsiung. The government, though, is still warning of torrential rain and storm surges coinciding with high tide.
Shortly after dawn, residents in Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.7 million people, received texted warnings telling them to seek shelter from gusts of more than 160 kph (100 mph).
"It's so windy now that I do not dare to go out and inspect my neighbourhood," said Lin Tsai-wang, a resident of the downtown Sanmin district.
The fire department reported two deaths as the approaching typhoon brought torrential rains across the island. Both fatalities were on the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast, one man falling while trimming a tree and another man whose vehicle was hit by a falling rock.
The typhoon is forecast to slowly work its way up Taiwan's flat western plain and weaken further into a tropical depression by late Friday before reaching the capital Taipei.
All domestic flights were cancelled for a second day, as well as 236 international ones. The north-south high speed rail line suspended services from central to southern Taiwan until early evening.
Taiwan's financial markets also closed for a second day.
Typhoons often hit Taiwan's east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is unusual in that it will directly hit the west coast.
The Kaohsiung government has been particularly cautious in its preparations given that the last time it was struck by such a storm in 1977, Typhoon Thelma killed 37 people and devastated the city.
