Typhoon Krathon tracker: Taiwan tells millions to seek shelter as slow-moving storm makes landfall

A fire at a hospital in southern Taiwan killed at least nine people today as the island was being battered by a typhoon.

The fire occurred in Pingtung county, which has been hit hard by Typhoon Krathon, which made landfall in the afternoon with torrential rains and heavy winds and has brought parts of the island to a standstill.

Those who died inhaled smoke from the fire, the source of which was still under investigation.

Soldiers from a nearby base were mobilised to help medical workers and firefighters in the evacuation of patients and putting out the flames.

Reports said 176 patients were rushed to the front entrance and transferred to ambulances in the pouring rain. They were moved to shelters nearby.

A satellite image captured by the Himawari-8 weather satellite today shows Typhoon Krathon as it makes landfall in southern Taiwan.

The storm hit near Kaohsiung earlier in the day as a weakened system, but it continues to bring torrential rain and powerful winds across the region.

The image illustrates the storm’s spiral structure as it moves northward, with bands of clouds spreading across the island and surrounding regions, causing significant weather disturbances.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued multiple advisories for heavy rain, especially in southern and eastern parts of the island.

Even though the typhoon has weakened, it remains a serious concern due to the heavy rainfall and risk of flooding and landslides across Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued a series of Heavy Rain Advisories across Taiwan, with torrential rainfall expected to continue.

The advisories are in effect from Thursday morning through Friday morning.

Rainfall is affecting key areas like Keelung, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taipei, Pingtung, and Hualien.

Typhoon Krathon made landfall near Kaohsiung earlier today, after lingering along the coast for two days and lashing the island throughout. Although weakened, the storm continues to bring significant rainfall across Taiwan.

Typhoon Krathon’s landfall has been labelled “weird” by Taiwanese media as the storm brought the island to a halt.

Typhoons often hit Taiwan’s east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is unusual in that it directly hit the populated west coast.

The storm also hovered along the coast for an unusually long period, lashing the island with rainfall and wind gusts since Monday.

Despite intensifying dramatically on its approach to Taiwan, the storm eventually made landfall at midday today as a weaker typhoon with windspeeds equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

Typhoon Krathon has made landfall in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung city at around midday local time, arriving as a weaker Category 1 typhoon.

The slow-moving Typhoon has been lashing Taiwan since Monday with its outer bands causing heavy rains and wind gusts.

The storm earlier intensified to an equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane but then lost some of its strength before landfall.

Despite its weakened state, the storm has caused significant disruption across Taiwan, forcing the country to remain shut down for a second day.

So far, two people have died, and hundreds of flights have been grounded. Financial markets also remain closed.

The Taiwanese government urged residents to remain indoors due to torrential rain, strong winds, and the threat of storm surges.

This morning, residents in Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.7 million people, received texted warnings telling them to seek shelter from gusts of more than 160 kmph (100 mph).

“It’s so windy now that I do not dare to go out and inspect my neighbourhood,” Lin Tsai-wang, a resident of the downtown Sanmin district, told Reuters.

Typhoons often hit Taiwan’s east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is unusual in that it will directly hit the west coast.

The Kaohsiung government has been particularly cautious in its preparations given that the last time it was struck by such a storm in 1977, Typhoon Thelma killed 37 people and devastated the city.

Krathon is forecast to make landfall as a much weaker Category 2 typhoon around midday at the major southwestern port city of Kaohsiung.

It is now slightly weakened but still a powerful Category 3-equivalent storm with sustained wind speeds of 173kmph and gusts of up to 209kmph.

The typhoon is forecast to slowly work its way up Taiwan’s flat western plain and weaken further into a tropical depression by late Friday before reaching the capital Taipei.