Taiwan braced for the impact of Typhoon Gaemi, shutting down offices, schools, and tourist sites across the island on Wednesday. The powerful typhoon had already brought heavy rains to the Philippines, causing widespread flooding, landslides, and at least 13 deaths. The outer skirt of Typhoon Gaemi brought heavy rain to much of Taiwan, with a direct landfall expected Wednesday evening in the northern county of Ylan. Fishing boats were recalled to port, and air travelers rushed to board overseas flights before the storm arrived, as numerous flights were canceled.
The typhoon, moving at 18 kilometers (11 miles) per hour with maximum sustained wind speeds of 183 kilometers (113 miles) per hour, was east of Taiwan on Wednesday morning, according to the Central Weather Administration. In the capital Taipei, heavy rain fell, but high winds had not yet arrived. Gaemi, known as Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in the archipelago but intensified its seasonal monsoon rains. The rains triggered at least a dozen landslides and floods over five days, killing at least eight people and displacing 600,000, including 35,000 who sought refuge in emergency shelters, according to the Philippines’ disaster risk mitigation agency.
In the mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province, a landslide buried a rural shanty on Tuesday, and the bodies of a pregnant woman and three children, aged 9 to 15, were recovered Wednesday morning. A rice porridge vendor was struck by a falling tree in another Batangas town Tuesday night, raising the death toll in the country to 13. Government work and school classes were suspended in the densely populated region around the Philippine capital after nonstop rains flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwaters and stranding people in their homes. Residents who ventured out waded through knee- and waist-high floodwaters, some using improvised dinghies to navigate alongside cars, trucks, and SUVs. In Marikina city, the continuing downpour swelled a major river, forcing many residents to evacuate. The strong currents swept away a steel cargo container, refrigerators, pieces of furniture, and tree trunks.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed authorities to expedite efforts to deliver food and other aid to isolated rural villages. “People there may not have eaten for days,” Marcos said in a televised emergency meeting. The Philippine coast guard reported that over 350 passengers and cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were prohibited from venturing into rough seas. Coast guard personnel assisted over 200 residents in evacuating a coastal village in Batangas province where storm-tossed waves had battered coastal houses.
The storm led to the cancellation of air force drills off Taiwan’s east coast and ferry services on Tuesday. Despite occasional flooding, Taiwan has significantly improved its resilience through early warnings and preparations. The effects of the storm were expected to continue into Friday as it moved in a northwestern direction towards mainland China.
