Taiwan issued a land warning on Tuesday and evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of Typhoon Fung-wong, which, although weakening, is expected to bring heavy rain to the island’s mountainous east coast.
Fung-wong is forecast to make landfall on Taiwan’s southwestern coast near the major port city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday, after hitting the Philippines as a stronger storm, where it claimed six lives.
The typhoon is expected to cross southern Taiwan before moving into the Pacific Ocean along the sparsely populated eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te urged people via Facebook to avoid mountains, coastal areas, and other potentially dangerous locations.
In the Philippines, Fung-wong caused widespread flooding, submerging entire villages and leaving many towns without electricity on November 10. The storm killed at least two people and displaced over a million residents.
Earlier this year in September, floods from another typhoon killed 18 people in Hualien, prompting the government to order evacuations in the town of Guangfu, one of the worst-hit areas. In total, 3,337 residents across four counties and cities have been moved to safer locations.
Schools and government offices were closed in Hualien and neighboring Yilan county on Tuesday. The northern city of Hsinchu, home to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is not expected to be directly affected.
