A lethal typhoon has slammed into Taiwan, killing at least one person, grounding hundreds of commercial flights and bringing the island’s transport and financial networks to a grinding halt.
Typhoon Champi made its presence felt with ferocious gusts and torrential rain on Thursday, forcing widespread evacuations and the mobilisation of emergency services across the island of 23 million people.
Authorities confirmed that an individual was swept out to sea by towering swells off the coast of Liuqiu, a small coral islet situated southwest of Taiwan's main island, BBC World reported. Rescue efforts were severely hampered by dangerous sea conditions, with maritime authorities urging residents and sightseers to remain well clear of exposed shorelines.
Fatal swell claims life off southern islet
The fatality on Liuqiu island highlights the sheer velocity of the ocean surge preceding the storm's centre. Local emergency management agencies reported that coastal breakwaters were overwhelmed by waves reaching upwards of six metres, rendering maritime rescue operations extraordinarily perilous.
Taiwan's Central Weather Administration warned that the outer bands of Champi would continue to buffet southern and eastern counties with destructive winds and sustained precipitation throughout the week. Low-lying fishing villages and coastal outposts bore the initial brunt, with hundreds of vessels ordered back to port and ferry services connecting the mainland to offshore islands suspended indefinitely.
Aviation grounded and markets shuttered
The onslaught prompted the wholesale shutdown of Taiwan's transport sector. Aviation authorities confirmed that hundreds of domestic and international flights were cancelled or diverted, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport.
Domestic links between Taipei and regional centres were entirely cut, while international carriers connecting Taiwan to major hubs across East Asia and Australia were forced to re-route itineraries or scrub services entirely.
Trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange was suspended for the day, alongside the closure of commercial banks, government departments, and schools across high-risk municipalities. The sweeping precautionary measures reflect lessons learned from past meteorological disasters, where flash flooding inflicted severe economic damage.
Mountainous regions brace for flash floods
Inland, Taiwan’s rugged central mountain ranges face immense peril from waterlogging and mudslides. Meteorologists have forecast accumulations of more than 800 millimetres of rainfall across elevated catchments over a 48-hour window.
Military personnel and civil defence units have been deployed to facilitate preemptive evacuations of vulnerable hillside communities, with hundreds of residents moved to temporary civic shelters. Heavy earthmoving equipment has been pre-positioned along major arterial passes prone to rockfalls to prevent remote townships from being severed from emergency supply lines.
Regional travel disruption ripples across Asia
The disruptions have begun echoing across the broader Asia-Pacific transport corridor, affecting business travel and air freight routes linking Australia to northern Asia.
The federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has advised Australian travellers in the region to monitor local weather warnings, follow the directions of local authorities, and consult their airlines regarding rolling flight disruptions. With severe weather warnings expected to remain active into the weekend, the island nation remains on high alert as emergency crews brace for the storm's full inland traverse.