Taiwan reopens, cleans up after Typhoon Krathon hits island

Workers in southern Taiwan began clearing roads littered with debris on Friday shortly after the Central Weather Service (CWA) lifted a typhoon warning for typhoon Krathon, which made landfall a day earlier.

The deadly typhoon downgraded southern Taiwan to a tropical depression after killing two and injuring 600 others across the island, with one person reported missing.

Additionally, nearly 130,000 homes remain without power as of Friday.

The warning was lifted early Friday as the storm slowly dissipated after hitting the island the day before, causing mudslides, flooding and damaging winds.

In the coastal city of Kaohsiung, where schools and offices remained closed, workers scrambled to clear trees and billboards that still blocked several roads and a railway line.

“All nearby roads, big or small, are all becoming impassable. So going to school and going to work tomorrow will be difficult,” said a Kaohsiung resident surnamed Chan. AFP Thursday night.

“I think it’s going to take a lot of hard cleanup work to clean this up. This disaster in Kaohsiung is pretty serious.”

More than 1,000 troops have been deployed to help with clean-up efforts in the southern maritime city, the defense ministry said.

“Krathon’s storm cycle enveloped Kaohsiung for 60 hours. In some areas, the rainfall was higher than Typhoon Gaemi (in July), and a strong level 17 wind was also recorded in Kaohsiung Port,” said Mayor Chen Chi-mai. Post on Facebook.

“All administrative units of the city are making every effort to repair the damage.”

Wind speeds of 56.3 meters per second were measured in Kaohsiung on Thursday, according to the CWA.

Strong winds uprooted trees, tossed shipping containers off a pier and shattered the glass doors of shops and banks across the city.

Local television footage showed workers at a convenience store standing behind a glass door trying to steady it before it was shattered by strong gusts, sending merchandise flying into the store.

In southern Pingtung, which also remained closed, the typhoon hampered rescue efforts after a fire broke out at a hospital, killing nine people on Thursday.

Taiwan is used to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but scientists have warned that climate change is increasing their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.