Typhoon Krathon hits Taiwan, killing two people and causing destruction | Taiwan

Typhoon Krathon has hit Taiwan, bringing damaging winds and rain to the island's second largest city.

The storm has killed at least two people, reported several others missing and injured more than 120.

After hovering off Taiwan's southwest coast for several days, Krathon hit Kaohsiung around 12:40 p.m. local time on Thursday, with powerful storm surges and wind gusts of nearly 100 miles per hour that ripped roofs off buildings, toppled trees and tossed shipping containers around ports.

At least nine people also died in a hospital fire on Thursday morning just a few kilometers from where Krathon made landfall. The fire is not believed to be related to the typhoon, but authorities struggled to evacuate hundreds of patients from the hospital despite severe weather conditions.

Krathon had reached super typhoon status earlier in the week after passing through the islands of the northern Philippines, but stalled in the open sea off southwestern Taiwan and weakened before crossing the coast, a category typhoon one corresponded.

Residents received text messages early Thursday warning them to stay indoors, but Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai said there were still too many people outside.

“If we look at the surveillance cameras, we can see that with such strong winds and rain, there are a lot of people riding scooters, which is really very dangerous,” he said.

Several landslides were also reported around the island, including in the far northeast, as the outer bands of the slow-moving storm covered much of Taiwan's main island, bringing more than 1.6 meters of rain to some areas far from the storm's center.

Authorities took extra precautions for this storm after Taiwan was struck by very strong Typhoon Gaemi, a Category 4 hurricane, in July. Gaemi killed 11 people in Taiwan, caused widespread flooding, including in downtown Kaohsiung, and left several ships grounded.

On Wednesday and Thursday, offices, courses and financial markets were closed across Taiwan and hundreds of flights were grounded. More than 38,000 troops were put on standby and nearly 10,000 people were evacuated from some mountainous areas.

Two reported deaths occurred before the storm made landfall. According to government intelligence, rescue authorities said Wednesday afternoon that a man in his 70s had died after falling from a tree and two were missing – one fallen in rough seas and another swept away by a river been.

On Thursday morning, a truck driver was reportedly killed after a falling boulder hit his vehicle. At least 70 injuries were also reported, mostly in the east coast district of Taitung, which was hit by strong winds and rain. One person was reported missing in central Yunlin County.

The storm's impact zone was similar to a destructive storm in 1977 that killed 37 people. The authorities warned that extreme caution should be exercised. While Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons, it is rare for them to reach the densely populated west coast.

The storm is expected to weaken as it moves through the western plains of Taiwan and become a tropical depression again before reaching the capital Taipei on Friday.