Typhoon Gaemi, the biggest tropical storm to hit Taiwan in recent years, has killed three people injured 220. Flights have been cancelled, stock markets, schools and offices are closed, and military drills have been modified. Taipei’s Mayor has urged people to stay at home. Rail operations have stopped, but high-speed trains may run. TSMC expects normal factory production. 29,000 soldiers are on stand-by for disaster relief efforts. 8,000 people have been evacuated.
After crossing Taiwan Straits, Gaemi is expected to hit south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian late on Thursday.
The rapidly intensifying storm had been expected to strengthen into a super typhoon before making landfall on Taiwan’s northeast coast Wednesday afternoon. However, it was deflected off its forecast track by Taiwan’s mountainous terrain and spent six hours offshore making a loop near the Hualien coastline making landfall around midnight. Hualien, eastern Taiwan’s most populated city, was hit with an additional eight hours of the typhoon’s worst conditions, including winds over 100 mph (160 kph), storm surge, and torrential rainfall (over 300 mm), reports CNN.
Taiwan is often struck by typhoons; its cities have a strong track record in preparing for the damaging winds and downpours they bring. The more at-risk populations tend to be in remote and mountainous areas, especially on the east side of the island, where landslides pose a major danger, says CNN.
While typhoons are destructive, Taiwan relies on them to replenish reservoirs after traditionally dry winters. Droughts in Taiwan tend to impact global semi-conductor supply chains.
Gaemi earlier lashed The Philippines where monsoon rains worsened by the typhoon led to extensive flooding and landslides leaving 13 people dead and nearly 770,000 displaced. In Manila, schools, government offices and financial institutions had to be closed.
The region was hit by superstorm Haiyan (Yolanda) in Nov 2013 which killed over 6,352 people, impacted 14 million and caused damages of $2.98 billion. Typhoon Meranti (Ferdie) in 2016 with windspeeds of 140 mph caused widespread damage in Philippines, Taiwan, mainland China and Korean peninsula leading to 30 deaths and $2.61 billion in damages.