Typhoon Gaemi approaches China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

By Sing Yee Ong, Cindy Wang and Manolo Serapio Jr.

Typhoon Gaemi took aim at China after tearing across the Philippines and Taiwan, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes, flooding streets and leaving at least seven people dead.
 

After passing south of densely populated Taipei, the storm’s eye headed out over the Taiwan Strait early Thursday, lumbering to the northwest. It was expected to approach China’s coast with winds of 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center, down from 109 mph as it cut across Taiwan.

The Philippines will continue to suspend currency trading Thursday, while stocks are reopening even as bond trading was halted. Taiwan’s $2.5 trillion stock market will remain closed a second day. China has already begun shutting ferry and passenger train service, and Hong Kong may issue a strong monsoon warning. 

Taiwan had braced for the impact. Well before landfall, the storm lashed the island with powerful gusts and downpours. At least three people died, more than 200 were injured, and thousands were evacuated from disaster-prone areas, according to media reports and authorities. 

More than 488,000 households lost electricity during the storm, and 69,541 households were still without power as of 8 am, according to Taiwan Power Co.. Hundreds of domestic and international flights from the island were canceled Thursday. The closure of the stock market marks the first time since 2016 it will be shut for two straight days because of a typhoon. 

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the intensity of the typhoon has weakened slightly over the past few hours, but it warned people in the south to stay wary of extremely heavy rain.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the main chipmaker for Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., said it was taking routine precautions for its local fabrication facilities.

In the Philippines, at least four people died in a landslide, and more than half a million people were displaced as Gaemi compounded monsoon rains, according to authorities. That puts the total number of deaths to at least 11 since heavy precipitation pounded the Southeast Asian nation earlier this month. But parts remain flooded and there are periodic downpours, and it may be days before the full human and economic cost to the archipelago becomes clear. 

In mainland China, coastal provinces near Gaemi’s path have begun taking precautionary measures, including evacuating tourists from island resorts, asking ships to take shelter and announcing suspensions of passenger train services.  

Heavy rain is also affecting other areas of the country, resulting in flood warnings in the Beijing region and the suspension of open-pit mining in some coal production hubs.