Powerful Typhoon Krathon to hit Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung, holiday declared in preparation
A big one.
By
Belmont Lay
October 01, 2024, 06:48 PM
The powerful Typhoon Krathon is approaching the populous southwest coast of Taiwan, prompting the port city of Kaohsiung to declare a holiday to prepare for the storm surge and weather event of the year to hit on Wednesday morning, Oct. 2.
Even though this typhoon will make landfall on the island's flat western plain, it is approaching with gusts of more than 150kmh, making it "no less powerful" than 1977's Typhoon Thelma which killed 37 people and devastated the city, Reuters reported.
Shops and restaurants in the city of Kaohsiung were mostly deserted.
The typhoon, labelled a super typhoon, will then work its way across the centre of Taiwan heading northeast and cross out into the East China Sea, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Taiwan mobilised nearly 40,000 troops on Oct 1 to be on standby for rescue efforts.
Kaohsiung is home to some 2.7 million people.
The coastal areas of Taiwan could be subjected to flooding.
Taiwan's defence ministry said it had put troops on standby, as Kaohsiung residents made their own preparations.
The transport ministry said 88 domestic flights and 24 international ones had been cancelled, with boats to outlying islands also stopped.
It added that all domestic flights, 234 in total, would stop on Wednesday.
The rail line connecting southern to eastern Taiwan has closed,
Top photos via Central Weather Administration @EarthUncutTV X
