Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast
Weakening Krathon expected to hit land early on Thursday
Forecast to travel up populous western coast
Cities, counties declare holiday for Wednesday
Financial markets shut, TSMC sees no major impact
Hundreds of flights cancelled
Adds Kaohsiung mayor's comments, evacuations; paragraphs 4,5,6
By Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, Oct 2 (Reuters) -Taiwan shut down on Wednesday, 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.
Officialsin 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 forecasterssaid.
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.
All the island's cities and counties declared a day off, shutting financial markets .TWII and cancelling domestic flights, along with 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the south and east.
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 and its neighbouring city of Tainan in the early hours of Thursday, before heading northeastup towards Taipei, the capital, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
"Because of Typhoon Gaemi being quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more cautious and prepared this time around," said sales representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, picking up sandbags at a government office, referring to July's storm that killed 11.
"First be prepared, then we can face this typhoon."
The typhoon has revived the older generation's bad memories of Thelma, prompting extra precautions, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district home to the airport.
"We were hit directly by the eyewall," he added, describing events almost five decades ago. "Power was out for two weeks and no water for almost a month. It was disastrous."
More than 700 sandbags have been distributed in his district, a record for a typhoon, while authorities are making more to meet demand, Chou said.
Taiwan's defence ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby.
The fire department reported 46 injuries, mostly in the mountainous eastern county of Taitung, with one person missing in the central county of Yunlin.
The north-south high speed rail line stayed open, but scaled back services.
TSMC 2330.TW, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, said on Tuesday it did not expect the typhoon would have a significant impact on operations.
TSMC's factories are along the west coast, some in the city of Tainan.
Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan https://reut.rs/3Ne3gpn
Reporting by Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamcher and Ann Wang; Graphic by Jackie Gu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sonali Paul and Clarence Fernandez
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
