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.
Text messages were sent to the locals alerting them of the danger of gusts exceeding 160 kmph (100 mph). Record gusts over 220 kmph (137 mph) pummeled the port.
As the typhoon lashed Taiwan with intense rainfall, authorities announced that two individuals had perished, both on the island’s hilly and thinly populated east coast. One fell off a tree while pruning, and the other’s car was struck by a boulder.
Government official Chou Yi-tang of the Siaogang district, which is home to Kaohsiung’s airport, described it as “very powerful.” It’s been a while since this large of a storm hit our area.
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.