Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan shut down on Wednesday (Oct 2), grounding hundreds of flights and closing schools, offices and financial markets ahead of the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon, forecast to lash the coast with storm surges and torrential rain.

Officials in the key port city of Kaohsiung, set to be in the eye of the storm, told people to stay home and avoid the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977's Typhoon Thelma that killed 37 and devastated the city of 2.7 million.

Although the typhoon has weakened, the threats from a storm surge, strong winds and rain remain as it slowly makes its way towards Taiwan's coast, weather forecasters said.

The typhoon would lose power once it hit land, said Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai, but would still bring intense winds and rain.

"But if it moves north, the winds will strengthen again, so the threat to Kaohsiung will continue to exist, and people cannot take this lightly," he told reporters.

Once it hits land, the typhoon could be downgraded into a tropical depression and dissipate, which has happened only once before in Taiwan, in 2001, forecasters said. That storm, called Trami, dumped vast amounts of rain leading to massive flooding.

On Wednesday, all the island's cities and counties declared a day off, shutting financial markets and cancelling domestic flights, along with 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the south and east.

In Taipei, some malls and shops remained open, with rain only expected later in the day.

Typhoons often hit Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is set to make landfall on its flat western plain.

It is forecast to hit between Kaohsiung