Taiwan hunkers down for arrival of strongest storm in 8 years

Work and school suspended, flights axed as Typhoon Gaemi nears island

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Taiwan hunkered down on July 24 for the arrival of a strengthening Typhoon Gaemi, with financial markets closed, people given the day off work, and flights cancelled, while the military went on standby amid torrential rain.

Gaemi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, was expected to make landfall on the north-east coast late in the evening on July 24, the weather authorities said. Its eye was hovering off Hualien county as at 7.15pm.

The weather authorities upgraded its status to a strong typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227kmh near its centre.

One person died, crushed by a falling tree, in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the fire department said. It also reported that another 58 people were injured.

After crossing the Taiwan Strait, the typhoon is likely to hit the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian late on the afternoon of July 25.

Financial markets will remain closed on July 25, with work and school suspended for a second day, the government said.

"The next 24 hours will present a very severe challenge," Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai told a televised meeting of the emergency response centre.

In rural Yilan county, where the typhoon will first hit land, heavy rain battered the countryside.