Two killed as ‘weird’ Typhoon Krathon crashes into southwestern Taiwan

As storm batters island, soldiers in south mobilised to help battle electrical fire in hospital that killed nine.

At least two people have been killed as Typhoon Krathon slammed into southwestern Taiwan, bringing the island to a standstill for a second day.

Krathon made landfall as a much weaker Category 1 typhoon at about noon on Thursday in the major port city of Kaohsiung.

Residents were warned by text message to seek shelter from gusts of more than 160kmph (100mph). The port was lashed by record gusts exceeding 220kmph (137mph).

Authorities reported that two people had died as the typhoon brought torrential rains across Taiwan, both on the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast. One fell while trimming a tree and the other’s vehicle was hit by a rock.

“It’s very powerful,” said Chou Yi-tang, a government official in Siaogang district, home to Kaohsiung’s airport. “It’s been a long time since such a big storm made a landfall here.”

The storm forced Taiwan’s financial markets, offices and schools to close for a second day amid strong winds and heavy rain.

More than 100,000 homes lost electricity, half of them in Kaohsiung, state-run utility Taipower said.

All domestic flights were cancelled for a second day, as well as 242 international flights.

In a separate incident, officials in the southernmost county of Pingtung said nine people had died in a hospital electrical fire, with soldiers from a nearby base mobilised to aid medical workers and firefighters in the evacuation of patients and putting out the flames.

The source of the fire is still under investigation.

A fire broke out at a hospital in Pingtung in southern Taiwan, on October 3, 2024 [Handout/Pingtung County Government via AP]

‘Weird’ storm

Typhoons often hit the east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is unusual since it directly hit the west coast, leading Taiwan’s media to label it a “weird” storm, and also because it hovered off the coast before reaching land.

The slow-moving typhoon has doused eastern and southern parts of the island over the past five days, forcing thousands to evacuate from mountainous or low-lying areas.

Some eastern regions received more than 1.6 metres (5.2 feet) of rain, washing cascades of rocks and mud onto roads.

The typhoon is forecast to slowly work its way up Taiwan’s flat western plain and weaken further by Friday, becoming a tropical depression over the central region.

The Kaohsiung government has been particularly cautious in its preparations since the last such storm in 1977, Typhoon Thelma, killed 37 people and devastated the city.