Almost all of Taiwan shut down on Friday as Typhoon Champi approached the island’s northeastern coast. The Central Weather Administration warned that the storm continues bringing dangerous winds and heavy downpours. Although the typhoon has weakened slightly from its earlier super typhoon intensity, meteorologists cautioned that direct landfall remains possible if the storm stalls. Consequently, emergency response authorities issued high-level coastal alerts and evacuated nearly thirteen hundred residents from high-risk mountainous regions.
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Typhoon Champi retains a massive wind radius of three hundred twenty kilometers, allowing its outer bands to impact almost the entire island. Coastal towns received urgent mobile warning alerts expecting gusts exceeding one hundred fifty kilometers per hour. Meanwhile, northern mountain regions surrounding Taipei prepare for localized rainfall totals approaching nearly one meter. In Yilan County, local officials distributed sandbags and positioned military amphibious vehicles and rescue boats on standby.
The severe weather led to widespread transport disruptions, forcing the cancellation of 262 domestic and 669 international flights. Additionally, financial markets, government offices, and educational institutions remained closed across almost all administrative divisions. Only the offshore Kinmen islands kept schools and municipal offices operating under normal schedules. Furthermore, public transport and urban subway lines in Taipei operated under reduced emergency schedules.
Emergency authorities confirmed one death and ninety-four injuries linked to rough coastal conditions and preliminary storm damage. Forecasters expect the storm to pass close to Taiwan before tracking north toward the Chinese coast and southern Japan. However, weather experts warned that the typhoon’s large radius and potential slow movement could prolong adverse weather conditions. Therefore, disaster management teams remain deployed to respond to potential landslides and flash flooding.
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Taiwan maintains robust disaster preparedness protocols and infrastructure built to withstand seasonal tropical cyclones. While autumn typhoons are less frequent than summer storms, local emergency agencies remain fully mobilized. Residents across major coastal and urban centers continue hunkering down at home until the storm passes. Consequently, officials urge citizens to stay updated through official meteorological alerts as conditions evolve over the weekend.