Typhoon Gaemi live tracker: One dead in Taiwan as storm develops into super typhoon

Super Typhoon Gaemi is approaching Taiwan with 185 km/h (115 mph) sustained winds for 10 minutes and gusts of up to 230 km/h and is already bringing heavy rains to the island.

According to the latest information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the storm’s outer rings had almost reached the island by 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. BST).

The storm was expected to make landfall at 2 a.m. local time on Thursday (7 p.m. CET on Wednesday), but due to the sheer size of the storm, its outer rings would completely cover Taiwan hours beforehand.

Typhoon Gaemi is approaching Taiwan and has strengthened into a super typhoon before making landfall. But what exactly is a super typhoon and why is there so much concern?

A super typhoon is an extremely strong tropical cyclone in the northwest Pacific Ocean, characterized by sustained wind speeds of at least 241 kilometers per hour. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) uses this classification and ranks super typhoons on a par with the strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic and northeast Pacific, specifically Category 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

In the past, superstorms such as Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013 and Typhoon Meranti in 2016 have caused great destruction. More than 14 million people were affected by Haiyan and 2.3 million people were plunged into poverty.

Typhoon Meranti, which struck the Philippines, Taiwan and mainland China, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, causing over $2.6 billion in damage and over 30 deaths.

Typhoon Gaemi, which is heading towards Taiwan and is expected to reach the mainland in the next few hours, has developed into a super typhoon, according to the Philippine Meteorological Administration.

“Carina is intensifying into a super typhoon and will soon make landfall over northern Taiwan,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) wrote on X, referring to the storm’s Filipino name.

The storm’s outer winds are already lashing Taiwan and have previously wreaked havoc in the Philippines. Heavy rains and strong gusts contributed to flooding and landslides that have killed at least 13 people.

Rescue workers in the Philippines are responding to hundreds of calls for help from residents trapped in floodwaters. The coast guard is “overwhelmed” as rains from Typhoon Gaemi continue to lash the archipelago.

In the city of Marikina on the eastern edge of the Manila region, persistent rain caused a large river to swell, forcing many residents to flee for safety.

According to the Associated Press, the strong currents swept away a steel container, refrigerators, furniture and tree trunks.

Some residents called radio stations and asked authorities to rescue people from roofs or upper floors of their low-rise houses as the floodwaters rose.

Mayor Jeannie Sandoval of Malabon, a flood-prone city in the northern part of the capital region, assured a worried mother that rescue boats and trucks had been operating throughout the day to help trapped residents like her.

“Stay calm. We are doing everything we can. The local government will not let you down,” Sandoval told radio station DZRH.

Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the Philippine Coast Guard, for which he serves as spokesman, had been inundated with calls for help from residents of the capital trapped in the flood, including those waiting for help from their rooftops.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged authorities to speed up the delivery of food and other relief supplies to isolated villages.

“The people there may not have eaten for days,” Marcos said in a televised crisis meeting.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard, more than 350 passengers, truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were banned from entering rough seas.

It added that coast guard members helped evacuate more than 200 residents from a coastal village in Batangas province, south of Manila, where storm-tossed waves had hit coastal homes.

Strong winds from Typhoon Gaemi cause damage throughout Taiwan.

Authorities have issued warnings for everyone to stay in their homes and avoid unnecessary travel. One person has died and over 50 have been injured when a tree fell.

“It’s becoming too dangerous to be on the road,” wrote James Reynolds, a tropical cyclone interceptor, on X.

Taiwan was forced to limit its annual war games in preparation for Typhoon Gaemi.

Han Kuang military exercises involving land, air and naval forces are held on the island from Monday to Friday to simulate real combat.

Air force exercises scheduled for Tuesday off the east coast were cancelled, but naval and land exercises were to continue in other parts of the self-governing island and the surrounding area.

On Wednesday, schools, offices and financial markets also closed and the streets of Taipei were deserted as heavy winds and rain hit the island nation.

Shweta Sharma has further details.

The government said more than 4,000 people had been evacuated from sparsely populated mountainous areas.

The evacuations took place in three northern regions, particularly in Hualien – a mountainous region with a high risk of landslides.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had put 29,000 soldiers on standby for disaster relief.

The extreme weather caused by Typhoon Gaemi has claimed a fatality in Taiwan for the first time: In the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, a person was killed by a falling tree, the fire department said.

According to official reports, another 58 people were injured.

Typhoon Gaemi is expected to make landfall tonight, but is already lashing the island nation with heavy gusts of wind and rainfall.

In the Philippines, where the outer rings of the typhoon caused even heavier rainfall this week, 12 people were killed in floods and landslides.

Gaemi is expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years.