Taiwan Braces for Powerful Typhoon After Monsoon Rains Batter Philippines

Taipei: Taiwan shuttered offices, schools and tourist sites across the island on Wednesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that already worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, killed at least 13 people and displaced 600,000.

Typhoon Gaemi’s outer skirt was bringing heavy rain to much of Taiwan, where a direct landfall was expected Wednesday evening in the northern county of Ylan. Fishing boats were recalled to port amid turbulent seas, while air travelers were rushing to board overseas flights before the storm arrives, amid numerous cancellations.

On Wednesday morning, the typhoon was east of Taiwan moving at 18 kilometers (11 miles) per hour with maximum sustained wind speeds of 183 kilometers (113 miles) per hour, the Central Weather Administration said. In the capital Taipei, heavy rain was falling, but high winds had not yet arrived.

Gaemi, which was called Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in the archipelago but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains. The rains set off at least a dozen landslides and floods over five days, killing at least eight and displacing 600,000 people, including 35,000 who went to emergency shelters, the Philippines’ disaster risk mitigation agency said.

A landslide buried a rural shanty Tuesday in the mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province, and the bodies of a pregnant woman and three children, aged 9 to 15, were dug out Wednesday morning. A rice porridge vendor was hit by a falling tree in another Batangas town Tuesday night, raising the toll in the country to 13 dead.

In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after nonstop rains flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwater and stranding people in their homes. Residents who ventured out of their homes waded into knee- and chest-high floodwaters with some using improvised dinghies and paddling their way alongside cars, trucks and SUVs.

In Marikina city in the eastern fringes of the Manila region, the continuing downpour swelled a major river, prompting many residents to flee to safety. The strong currents swept away a steel cargo container, refrigerators, pieces of home furniture and tree trunks, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene.

Some residents called radio stations and asked to be rescued by authorities from rooftops or upper floors of their low-slung houses amid rising floodwaters. Mayor Jeannie Sandoval of Malabon, a flood-prone city in the northern section of the capital region, assured one alarmed mother that rescue boats and trucks have been scrambling all day to help trapped residents like her.

"Stay calm. We’re doing everything we can. The local government won’t leave you behind,” Sandoval told the DZRH radio network.

Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the Philippine coast guard, where he serves as a spokesperson, has been overwhelmed with pleas from floodwater-trapped residents in the capital to be rescued, including those who were waiting for help from rooftops.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up 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 said more than 350 passengers and cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were prohibited from venturing into rough seas. It added that coast guard personnel helped more than 200 residents evacuate a coastal village in Batangas province south of Manila where storm-tossed waves have hit coastal houses.

The storm prompted the cancellation of air force drills off Taiwan’s east coast and ferry services Tuesday.

Despite occasional flooding, Taiwan has substantially improved its resiliency through early warnings and preparations. The effects of the storm were expected to continue into Friday as it moved in a northwestern direction toward mainland China.