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Typhoon Kraton made landfall in southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes, flooding roads and killing two people in the east.
The storm was initially a Category 4 typhoon, but weakened significantly before making landfall near Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s main port city, causing widespread damage and bringing the entire island to a standstill for two days.
Clayton was dubbed a “bizarre” storm by local media because it remained close to Taiwan’s coast for an extended period of time, moving unusually slowly and making landfall on the populous island’s west coast, which is generally considered safe from typhoons. Ta.
Schools, offices and stores were closed and flights were canceled for a second day Thursday as the typhoon began making landfall around noon local time (4 a.m. GMT). This is the second time this year that Taiwan’s stock exchange has been shut down for two days due to a storm.
All domestic flights were canceled on the second day, and 242 international flights were also cancelled. The North-South High-Speed Railway suspended service between the central and southern regions until at least the evening.
Kaohsiung residents awoke to emergency alerts and evacuated as the eye of the typhoon entered the region Thursday morning with wind gusts exceeding 160 km/h. The heavy rain that has been hitting the region since this week has become even more intense.
At least two people were killed in the eastern part of the island amid abnormal weather caused by the typhoon. One of the victims fell while cutting a tree, and the other died when his car hit a rock. Earlier this week, a storm killed two people and displaced thousands in the Philippines.
No major casualties have been reported in Kaohsiung, but the last major storm was Typhoon Thelma about 30 years ago.
“Fortunately this time, people were well prepared,” Zhou Yitang, a government official in Xiaogang district, where Kaohsiung Airport is located, told Reuters.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a storm this big make landfall here,” he said.
Ahead of the storm’s landfall, the government distributed thousands of sandbags, deployed water pumps and had Taiwan’s approximately 38,000 soldiers on standby to assist with disaster relief efforts.
About 10,000 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas, particularly Kaohsiung and other high-risk areas such as Pingtung and Taitung.
“This is one of the most powerful storms to hit the West Coast in recent memory,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Zhimei said Tuesday, “We ask all residents to evacuate and prepare for heavy rain. ” he said.
Despite preparations, the storm left many areas in knee-deep water. At least 51,000 households remained without power on Thursday, mainly in Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County, down from more than 170,000 households previously.
More than 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) of rain fell in some eastern regions, sending cascades of stones and mud cascading onto roads.
Southern Taiwan Science Park, one of semiconductor maker TSMC’s main factories, said operations were normal.
In Pingtung County, which was hit hard by Typhoon Kraton amid abnormal weather, a fire broke out at a hospital in southern Taiwan, killing at least nine people.
According to reports, 176 patients were rushed to the main entrance in the pouring rain and transferred to ambulances. They were transferred to a nearby evacuation center.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) announced that some areas in eastern and southern Taiwan will continue to experience very heavy rain, with up to 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) of rain possible over the next 24 hours. . A warning has been issued for further rain, which is expected to continue into Friday morning.
The storm was expected to subside, but the typhoon is expected to slowly move north across Taiwan’s western plains and reach the capital Taipei, potentially leaving a lasting impact.
Slow-moving storms have become a troubling trend in recent years, as they lead to longer rain periods and more damage. Scientists have previously linked this type of pattern to the climate crisis.
Rising global temperatures are heating the oceans, feeding more energy into the atmosphere and intensifying storms. These intensified storms are carrying more moisture and, combined with weakening atmospheric currents like the jet stream, are moving more slowly.
This stalling effect leads to prolonged periods of heavy rain and destructive winds, again as seen in the Craton.
