Two people have been killed and over 120 have been injured as Typhoon Krathon inches toward Taiwan’s populous southwestern coast, bringing torrential rain and heavy winds that have caused landslides and floods, the authorities said on Thursday.
The storm was expected to make landfall around midday Thursday near Kaohsiung, a major port city home to 2.7 million people, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said. On Thursday morning, it had maximum wind speeds of about 78 miles per hour, equivalent to those of a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic.
For the past two days, the storm lingered near Taiwan’s southern coast, slowing down and weakening as it approached the island. Its slow pace has allowed it to lash some places with relentless rain. Taitung County, in the southeast, has received more than 4.5 feet of rain since Tuesday, while nearby Pingtung County has received about three feet in the same period.
The rainfall has triggered multiple landslides in Taitung, Pintung and the northeastern port city of Keelung. Flooding has also been reported in Keelung.
Taiwan’s National Fire Agency on Thursday morning said that two people had died and 123 had been injured during the storm. Two people have been reported missing. In Hualien County in the east, a 70-year-old died from falling off a ladder when attempting to prune tree branches. In Taitung, a 66-year-old truck driver died after crashing into a large rock that fell onto the road.
Taiwanese authorities shut down the island on Wednesday and Thursday, closing schools and workplaces and the national stock exchange. All domestic flights have been grounded and many international flights were canceled on Thursday. Nearly 10,000 people had been evacuated in multiple counties as of Thursday morning.
Although typhoons are common in Taiwan, they usually hit the island’s mountainous, sparsely populated east coast, and rarely make landfall on the more populated west coast.