Super Typhoon Krathon – live: Three dead in Philippines as Taiwan braces for storm’s landfall

Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas across Taiwan, particularly in regions prone to flooding and landslides.

Most of the evacuations are concentrated in southern Taiwan, including cities like Kaohsiung and Pingtung, where the storm is expected to make landfall early morning tomorrow.

Taiwan's interior ministry has coordinated the evacuations, while local governments have been distributing sandbags and mobilising emergency services.

Taiwan has shut down schools, offices, and its financial markets. Flights and ferry services have been widely cancelled as the storm brings torrential rain and strong winds, with authorities urging the public to remain vigilant and stay indoors.

The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has forecast that Typhoon Krathon is gradually weakening as it nears Taiwan's southwest coast.

The storm is expected to make landfall tomorrow morning, either as a weak typhoon or potentially downgraded to a tropical storm, CWA said.

It will further weaken as it passes over Taiwan, possibly "dissolving" into a tropical depression, the CWA said, while cautioning that the storm could still bring heavy rains for an extended period of time.

Typhoon Krathon was located 130 kilometres southwest of Kaohsiung, moving north-northeast at 8 kilometres per hour at 1.15pm local time (5.15am GMT).

Typhoon Krathon continues its slow approach toward Taiwan. The map from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) shows the storm’s path and projected wind intensities.

Krathon is expected to make landfall near Kaohsiung tomorrow early morning.

The forecast places Krathon’s maximum sustained wind speeds at 100 knots (185 kmph) near landfall, with the outer bands already affecting southern Taiwan.

Wind speeds of up to 90 knots (167 kmph) are expected as the storm progresses inland, affecting areas as far north as Tainan and Taichung. The storm’s effects will also be felt across Taipei as it moves northward after landfall.

A video shared by storm chaser Jason H on X shows heavy winds and high tides in Donggang town in southwestern Taiwan.

"Fairly rough conditions going on outside our hotel in Donggang," he wrote.

Krathon is forecast to make landfall near Kaohsiung or Tainan city either tonight or tomorrow morning local time, and from there it is projected to move northeast toward Taipei over the next day or so.

While the storm is expected to weaken as it moves inland, it could still cause significant damage, particularly due to heavy rain, flooding, and strong winds.

Authorities have issued extreme rain and wind warnings for multiple regions, with storm surge risks persisting along the coast.

Offices, schools, and businesses across Taiwan, including the financial market in Taipei is already shut as a precaution.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) expanded typhoon warnings to cover 13 cities and counties, stretching from the southern tip of the island up to Miaoli in the north.

As of 1.15pm local time (5.15am GMT), Typhoon Krathon was located 130 kilometres southwest of Kaohsiung, moving north-northeast at 8 kilometres per hour.

The outer rim of the storm has already engulfed Taitung and extended up the west coast as far as Yunlin, with bands of heavy rain and strong winds posing a significant threat to areas further north.

The cities and counties under the warning include Nantou, Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Pingtung, Changhua, Penghu, Taichung, Tainan, Taitung, Hualien, Miaoli, Yunlin, and Kaohsiung.

Authorities are asking residents across these regions to prepare for potential flooding, landslides, and storm surges as Typhoon Krathon makes its slow approach towards southwestern Taiwan, with landfall possible either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Typhoon Krathon is set to make an unprecedented landfall on Taiwan’s heavily populated west coast near Kaohsiung, bringing flooding and disruption to the region’s industrial and semiconductor sectors.

“Normally, typhoons in the western Pacific (especially in a place like Taiwan) track from east to west across this area,” Jon Davis, chief meteorologist at Everstream Analytics, said.

This is partly why Taiwan's population is densely concentrated on its west coast and very few people live on the Pacific east coast – which receives the brunt of most storms.

"Typhoon Krathon is going to take a track and make landfall on the west coast of Taiwan near Kaohsiung based on the latest data,” he said.

Krathon’s west coast track is rare, with no major typhoon (Category 3 or higher) making landfall near Kaohsiung in the past 34 years, Mr Davis said.

“This will be an unprecedented event for the southwest portion of Taiwan," he told The Independent.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, said it did not expect the typhoon would have a significant impact on operations.

TSMC's factories are along the west coast, where the typhoon is set to make a rare landfall, some in the city of Tainan.

Most typhoons impact the southeastern parts of Taiwan and the western parts, which house some of the biggest companies and millions of people, remain safe from impacts.

However, experts have expressed concerns that Krathon's path could cause disruption to Taiwan's financial hubs.

Residents in Taiwan were collecting sandbags, taping glass windows and stocking groceries as authorities urged people to stay at home.

"Because of Typhoon Gaemi being quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more cautious and prepared this time around," sales representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, told Reuters, picking up sandbags at a government office, referring to July's storm that killed 11 people.

"First be prepared, then we can face this typhoon."

People are very prepared this time, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district home to the airport.

For many older residents, the storm brought back memories of the devastation caused by Typhoon Thelma five decades ago.

"We were hit directly by the eyewall," he added, describing events of Typhoon Thelma. "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, he told the agency.