Super Typhoon Krathon Nears Taiwan After Lashing the Philippines

Super Typhoon Krathon was barreling toward Taiwan’s populous southwest on Tuesday with powerful winds and heavy rain, disrupting travel and forcing the authorities to close schools and offices.

Krathon was forecast to make landfall early Thursday, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm had maximum sustained wind speeds of about 150 miles per hour early Tuesday, equivalent those of a Category 4 hurricane. The center classifies storms with winds of above 150 miles per hour as super typhoons.

A large swath of southern Taiwan is in the storm’s predicted path, according to the island’s Central Weather Administration. The places that will be affected by strong winds and heavy rain include the southwestern port city of Kaohsiung. Home to about 2.7 million people, Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s third-largest city.

Typhoons are common in Taiwan but they usually hit the island’s mountainous, sparsely populated east coast, and rarely make landfall on the more populated west coast.

The weather agency warned residents in Kaohsiung City, as well as in nearby Tainan City, Pingtung County and Chiayi County, to take “strict precautions” against strong winds and torrential rains. On Monday, there were school and office closures in those areas, as well as in Hualien and Taitung counties on Taiwan’s east coast.

Some airlines suspended Wednesday flights, including Hong Kong Airlines, which canceled some flights between Hong Kong and Taipei. Taiwan Railway, the national rail operator, said that it would suspend some train services from Tuesday.

The storm buffeted islands in the northern Philippines with strong winds and heavy rain on Monday, causing flash flooding, before intensifying as it moved north.