Taiwan prepares for Typhoon Gaemi after rains create chaos in Philippines | Weather news

Taiwan evacuates more than 2,100 people and puts 29,000 troops on standby for disaster relief efforts.

Taiwan has closed offices and schools and suspended flights as the island braces for a powerful typhoon that is expected to make landfall within hours after flooding areas of the Philippines.

Typhoon Gaemi is forecast to hit northeast Taiwan at 10pm (2pm GMT) on Wednesday, and President William Lai Ching-te urged everyone to “put safety first” during an emergency meeting.

Authorities evacuated more than 2,100 people living in precarious conditions in three northern regions, especially Hualien – a mountainous area with a high risk of landslides.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it has put 29,000 troops on standby for disaster relief efforts.

The typhoon also caused the cancellation of Taiwan’s annual air force exercises on the east coast and ferry services.

Nearly all domestic flights were canceled, as were more than 200 international flights, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Gaemi did not make landfall in the Philippines but increased seasonal monsoon rains and triggered floods and landslides, killing at least 12 people as of Wednesday, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDRRMC) and media reports local.

The typhoon brought winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) on Wednesday and torrential rain lashed the Philippines and much of Taiwan.

At least a dozen landslides and floods over five days displaced 600,000 people across the country, the Philippine government said.

The bodies of four people excavated from a landslide were recovered on Wednesday in Batangas province, south of the capital Manila, according to ABS-CBN News. It reported that a child was electrocuted in the central province of Cebu during heavy rains.

The latest reports raised the death toll to 12 from the initial seven deaths confirmed by the NDRRMC on Tuesday, mainly on the southern island of Mindanao.

Swimming safely

In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after uninterrupted rain flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwaters and leaving people trapped in their homes.

Reporting from Manila, Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo said the last 12 hours had been particularly intense, with heavy rain forcing many residents to flee.

“People said they had to swim because search and rescue teams are overwhelmed. And it prevails throughout the Philippine capital,” Lo said.

The Marikina River, a major waterway in Manila, was also threatening to overflow its banks, which could pose a risk to at least half a million people in nearby low-lying areas, according to the district information office.

Meanwhile, the La Mesa dam, one of the capital’s main sources of drinking water, is close to exceeding the danger level, according to the Philippine meteorological agency, PAGASA.

“I have instructed all concerned agencies to provide rapid assistance to all people affected by Typhoon Carina and the rising southwest monsoon,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement on X, referring to Gaemi by his Philippine name.

The Philippine Coast Guard said more than 350 passengers, cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded at seaports after ferries and cargo ships were banned from venturing into rough seas.

It said coast guard personnel helped more than 200 residents evacuate a coastal village in Batangas province, south of Manila, where storm-driven waves hit coastal homes.

The storm’s effects were expected to continue through Friday as it moved in a northwesterly direction toward mainland China.

Southeast China’s Fujian province announced the suspension of all passenger rail services on Thursday, state media reported.