Weakened but still strong Typhoon Krathon slams into Taiwan, two dead

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan - A weakened and "weird" Typhoon Krathon slammed into southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, hitting the island with a storm that has killed two people so far and forced it to shut down a second day with hundreds of flights grounded and financial markets closed.

Krathon made landfall as a much weaker category 1 typhoon around midday at major port city Kaohsiung. The government, though, still warned people to stay at home given torrential rain, strong winds and storm surges coinciding with high tide.

Shortly after dawn, residents in Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.7 million people, began receiving texted warnings telling them to seek shelter from gusts of more than 160 kph (100 mph).

Kaohsiung's port recorded gusts of more than 220 kph.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai told reporters there were still too many people on the streets.

"Looking at surveillance cameras we can see there are a lot of people out riding scooters under such strong wind and rain, which is really very dangerous," he said.

"If you don't have to, please avoid going out."

Taipei university student Liao Shian-rong, 24, came to Kaohsiung with some classmates to chase the storm, bringing equipment like barometers and saying it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"We are being hit by the eyewall now and will enter the eye soon," he said, filming the storm from a hotel lobby.

Taiwan's fire department reported two deaths as the approaching typhoon brought torrential rains across the island. Both fatalities were on the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast, one man falling while trimming a tree and another man whose vehicle was hit by a falling rock.

Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded rainfall of more than 1.6 metres (5.2 ft), bringing rocks and mud cascading down onto roads.

The Southern Taiwan Science Park, home to one of chipmaker TSMC's main factories, said operations were continuing as normal.

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.

All domestic flights were cancelled for a second day, as well as 236 international ones. The north-south high speed rail line suspended services from central to southern Taiwan until early evening.

Taiwan's financial markets also closed for a second day. In Taipei there were squally rain showers, and many shops and malls remained open.

Typhoons often hit Taiwan's east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is unusual in that it directly hit the west coast. Local media labelled it a "weird" storm for that reason, and because of how it hovered off the coast before reaching land.

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.

In a separate disaster, the government in the southernmost county of Pingtung said six people had died in a hospital electrical fire, with the health ministry working during the typhoon to evacuate patients to other facilities.

-(Reuters)