Powerful Typhoon Gaemi hits Taiwan, expected to drench an already soaked China

CNN — 

A powerful typhoon made landfall in northeastern Taiwan early on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring hundreds of others as authorities closed financial markets, schools and offices.

Conditions in Taiwan worsened as Typhoon Gaemi brought heavy rainfall, gusty winds and a dangerous storm surge. It reached land in Yilan County with sustained winds up to 205 kph (125 mph), equal to a Category 3 major hurricane in the Atlantic.

The typhoon is expected to move over the Taiwan Strait Thursday before making landfall in mainland China’s Fujian province, bringing more strong winds and downpours to a country already hit hard by weeks of extreme rain and deadly flooding.

A woman riding a motorcycle in Taiwan’s southern Kaohsiung City was crushed to death by a fallen tree, and a woman in eastern Hualien was hit by a parapet that fell from the roof of a house, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Center reported. More than 200 others were wounded.

The rapidly intensifying storm had been expected to strengthen into a super typhoon before making landfall on Taiwan’s northeast coast Wednesday afternoon.

However, it was deflected off its forecast track by Taiwan’s mountainous terrain and spent more than six hours offshore making a loop near the Hualien coastline before making landfall at around midnight.

Hualien, eastern Taiwan’s most populated city, was hit with an additional eight hours of the typhoon’s worst conditions, including winds over 100 mph (160 kph), storm surge, and torrential rainfall. Rainfall totals topped 300 mm (1 foot) in many locations, with mountainous areas receiving over 500 meters (1.5 feet).

The deflection was caused by mountains disrupting the storm’s wind field. The phenomenon has been documented numerous times over the past 60 years in typhoons approaching northeast Taiwan, with several making full loops before eventually moving over land.