Taiwan shuts down ahead of Typhoon Champi as hundreds of flights cancelled

Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday ahead of Typhoon Champi (Rosal in the Philippines), with schools, offices and financial markets closed as the weakening storm brought strong winds and torrential rain.

One person was killed and 94 were injured, and almost 1,300 people were evacuated from mountainous areas.

Once a super typhoon and one of the Pacific’s strongest storms this year, Champi was still packing gusts of around 191 kph (119 mph) near its centre, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm was about 320 km east of Taiwan’s southern tip and forecast to pass just off the northeast before turning north toward the Chinese coast and southern Japan. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng told Reuters landfall could not be ruled out if the storm “stalls, loops, or wobbles from side to side”.

Coastal towns received mobile phone alerts warning of gusts exceeding 150 kph and urging residents to seek shelter, while nearly a metre of rain was forecast for northern mountain areas, including Taipei. The storm’s wind radius was around 320 km, large enough to cover most of Taiwan, with the impact expected to last nearly two days.

The transport ministry said all 262 domestic flights were cancelled for Friday, along with 669 international ones. The north-south high-speed rail ran as usual and Taipei’s subway with reduced service. In Yilan county, where the typhoon was forecast to pass close by later on Friday, authorities distributed sandbags and put amphibious vehicles and inflatable rescue boats on standby.

Sources: Reuters via GMA News Online, Business Times Singapore