Two people are reported to have have died after Typhoon Krathon hit a major city in Taiwan, bringing huge floods and fierce winds.
Trees were brought down by high winds and roads were submerged in water in the port city of Kaohsiung on Thursday, forcing schools and businesses to close. Thousands of people have also been left without power. Footage from the city showed a metal roof being ripped off a building amid gale-force winds.
Local reports said two people had died and more than 100 injured. It comes after a fire at a hospital in Taiwan killed at least nine people earlier today. The deaths were attributed to smoke and the cause was under investigation. It was not immediately clear whether the blaze was related to the typhoon.
This week, thousands of people in the path of the typhoon have been evacuated from areas vulnerable to mudslides and landslides, and almost 40,000 troops remain on standby to help with rescue efforts. Mountainous areas in the island's south have received up to 169 centimetres (5.5 feet) of rain over the past five days.
Local government in Kaohsiung earlier urged its residents to take cover from potentially disastrous winds and rain, which have torn down storefronts and flooded car parks. The slow-moving typhoon, which approached Taiwan at a speed of about 2.5mph, first hit eastern and southern parts of the island over the past five days, forcing thousands to flee their homes.
Many residents woke up on Thursday to mobile phone alerts urging them to take shelter from the potentially dangerous winds. The weather administration posted a Facebook message warning Kaohsiung and Pingtung county residents not to go outside when the eye of the storm passes above their area and the weather calms briefly, because the winds would pick up again afterwards.
