Taiwan warns of storm surge from powerful Typhoon Krathon, mobilises 40,000 troops
Coastguard searches for 19 sailors who abandoned ship as Kaohsiung mayor describes storm as ‘no less powerful’ than 1977’s Typhoon Thelma
Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons but they generally land along the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but this one will make landfall on the island’s flat western plain.
Krathon was forecast to hit the major port city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday morning, then work its way across the centre of Taiwan heading northeast and into the East China Sea, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
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Kaohsiung, home to some 2.7 million people, announced schools and businesses would close and told people to stay at home as Krathon – labelled a super typhoon by the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre – approached.
Li Meng-hsiang, a forecaster for CWA, said the storm had reached its maximum intensity and could weaken slightly as it moves closer to Taiwan, warning of gusts of more than 150km/h (93mph) for the southwest.
“The storm surge might bring tides inland,” Li said. “If it’s raining heavily it will make it difficult to discharge waters and as a result coastal areas will be subject to flooding.”
Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai told a disaster management meeting that the storm was “no less powerful” than 1977’s Typhoon Thelma which killed 37 people and devastated the city.
Residents must not go to the coast, mountains or near rivers and should avoid going outside unless necessary, the city government cited him as saying.
