Taiwan Prepares for Super Typhoon Krathon To Make Landfall

TaiwanPlus News

Super Typhoon Krathon is expected to make landfall in southwestern Taiwan on Wednesday. Residents across the country are bracing for torrential rain and strong winds, while many rail services and flights have been canceled.

Transcript

00:00Waves, up to six meters high, slam into Taiwan's coast, as Super Typhoon Kraton presses closer

00:09to the country.

00:11The Category 4 storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday in the country's flat western plains,

00:17where over 90 percent of the population lives.

00:20It is predicted to move northeast across Taiwan's main island in the following days.

00:26The storm's path is unusual, as typhoons generally hit the country from its mountainous and less

00:31populated east.

00:33Officials say Kraton will bring winds of over 230 kilometers an hour, prompting concern

00:39among residents in the southern city of Kaohsiung, where the typhoon is expected to hit first.

00:56Thousands of people in remote mountainous regions of eastern Taiwan have been evacuated,

01:06many of them brought to local schools like this one for shelter.

01:10The region has already been hit with heavy rain, causing rivers to swell and mountainsides

01:15to crumble.

01:17Local officials have rushed to reinforce the area's infrastructure ahead of the storm's

01:21arrival.

01:23Officials in Hualien and Taitung in the country's east have closed off major roads and bridges

01:37and suspended rail services, while planes have now been grounded around the country,

01:42leaving many tourists stranded.

01:53Back in Kaohsiung, fishers have been securing their boats, and residents have been crossing

01:58their windows with tape to withstand typhoon winds, as well as practicing rapid flood response

02:04drills.

02:05Taiwan is no stranger to powerful storms like this, but as an intensifying super-typhoon

02:24Kraton heads straight towards the country's populated southwest coast, residents across

02:30the country are doing their best to brace for the worst.

02:34This has been Vincent Chen and Wesley Lewis for Taiwan Plus.

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