Taiwan shuts down almost completely as Typhoon Champi passes offshore, with 262 domestic flights and more than 350 international flights canceled for Friday

Champi was a super typhoon at its peak and one of the strongest Pacific storms of the year. By Friday it was weakening, but Taiwan Central Weather Administration still measured gusts of about 191 kilometers an hour, 119 miles an hour, near its center. The storm sat about 330 kilometers east of Taiwan southern tip on Friday, with a radius of about 320 kilometers, large enough to cover most of the island. Forecasters expected the effects to last nearly two days.

The shutdown was near total. Financial markets closed for Friday. Only the Kinmen islands, the Taiwan controlled islands next to the Chinese coast, opened schools and offices as normal. The transport ministry canceled all 262 domestic flights for Friday and more than 350 international flights. On Thursday, when the land warning first went up, the figure had been 125 flights and no evacuations had been reported.

The forecast track takes Champi past Taiwan northeastern coast at its closest late Friday, over Japan westernmost inhabited island, Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture, then north toward the seas off Shanghai and eventually southern Japan. Northern mountain areas, including the hills near Taipei, were warned to expect total rainfall near one meter, and coastal towns received phone alerts for waves above six meters.

Taiwan is well drilled for typhoons and usually keeps casualties low, Reuters noted, and the Friday reporting carried no confirmed deaths on the island. One widely shared secondary report claiming one death and dozens of injuries could not be confirmed in a major outlet at publication and is not carried here as fact. The evening sweep will update this story if the picture changes as the storm passes.