It has already left two dead and more than 100 injured. Typhoon Krathon made landfall on Thursday, October 3, in southern Taiwan, which had been isolated two days before the powerful tropical cyclone arrived.
The typhoon was preceded by strong winds of 126 km/h with gusts of up to 162 km/h and heavy rain.
“Typhoon Krathon made landfall near Xiaogang district in Kaohsiung around 12:40 pm today” (6:40 French time) in the south of the island, announced the Central Meteorological Administration of Taiwan (CWA).
The typhoon has already brought torrential rain and strong winds to the island.
The authorities counted two dead, two missing and more than 100 injured.
A 70-year-old man fell to his death while trimming trees in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, on Tuesday and died in hospital on Wednesday. Another man, 66, hospitalized on Monday near Taitung, in the southeast, after a collision between his truck and a rock that fell on the road, died on Wednesday.
Krathon disrupts air traffic, leading to the suspension of all domestic flights on Thursday for the second day in a row. The typhoon also caused temporary power outages to nearly 55,000 homes, according to authorities.
Schools and offices on the island have remained closed since Wednesday and residents of the southern port city of Kaohsiung have been urged to seek shelter. “There will be destructive winds in this area. Take shelter as soon as possible »meteorologists warned in messages sent on Thursday to the mobile phones of residents of the region.
Typhoons form closer to the coast
Tropical storms are common in Taiwan from July to October. However, a recent study concluded that they are forming closer to the coast, gaining intensity more quickly and persisting longer after landfall due to climate change.
In July, Typhoon Gaemi, the most powerful to hit the island in eight years, caused widespread flooding in Kaohsiung and killed at least ten people in Taiwan, as well as about fifty in China due to torrential rains as a result of its step, and at least at least 40 in the Philippines.
