Taiwan braces for Typhoon Krathon, cancels hundreds of flights, closes schools

Taiwan shut down on Wednesday with hundreds of flights grounded and offices, schools and financial markets closed ahead of the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon, which is forecast to bring storm surges along the coast and torrential rain.

The government in the key port city of Kaohsiung, right on the path of the eye of the storm, told people to stay at home and away from the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977's Typhoon Thelma which killed 37 people and devastated the city of 2.7 million.

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Taiwan regularly gets hit by typhoons but they generally land along the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon will make landfall on the island's flat western plain.