Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday ahead of Typhoon Champi, with the island’s transport ministry cancelling all 262 domestic flights and 669 international departures — 931 in all.
One person has been killed and 94 injured, and the government said almost 1,300 people had been evacuated from mountainous areas, the Daily Mirror reported, citing CNA and Reuters.
Champi was at one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year. Though weakening, it was still carrying gusts of around 191 km/h near its centre, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, and sat about 320 km east of the island’s southern tip.
Track and risk of landfall
The forecast track takes the storm just off northeastern Taiwan before it turns north toward the Chinese coast and eventually moves into southern Japan. It is expected to pass first over Japan’s westernmost inhabited island, Yonaguni, in Okinawa Prefecture.
CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng told Reuters that a direct landfall could not be ruled out if the system “stalls, loops, or wobbles from side to side” on approach.
“The storm’s wind radius is quite large, among the bigger ones in recent years. If the storm slows down, the strong winds will affect Taiwan for longer.”
Forecasters put the radius at around 320 km — wide enough to cover most of Taiwan — and said the impact could last nearly two days.
Precautions
Coastal towns received mobile phone alerts warning of gusts above 150 km/h. Nearly a metre of rain was forecast for northern mountain areas, including around Taipei.
In the northeastern county of Yilan, authorities distributed sandbags and placed amphibious vehicles and inflatable rescue boats on standby. “When necessary, the military will come in to help people, including using amphibious vehicles for evacuations or disaster relief,” said Lee Ming-chen, head of the port town of Suao, which has flooded badly in previous typhoons.
Financial markets closed for the day. Only the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which sit next to the Chinese coast, kept schools and offices open as normal. The north-south high-speed rail ran as usual, and Taipei’s subway operated on a reduced service.
A note on the date
Hiru News, citing the BBC, gives the same cancellation figures — 262 domestic and “more than 660” international — but dates them to “today (24)” in a report published on the 23rd. The Daily Mirror’s account, sourced to CNA, places the shutdown on Friday 23 October, and that is the date used here. Hiru also reports rail and ferry services suspended and several major highways closed as a precaution.