Hundreds of flights cancelled as Typhoon Champi shuts Taiwan

On Friday, numerous flights across the East Asia region were disrupted as Typhoon Champi approached Taiwan's northeastern coast. Schools and businesses in Taiwan were also closed as the storm neared the island, though it remained uncertain whether it would make landfall. Forecasters predicted the typhoon would bring up to 90cm (35in) of rainfall and strong winds to the north-east until Saturday.

One fatality occurred when a person was swept away by waves, and 171 individuals sustained injuries. Additionally, 1,000 people were forced to evacuate due to the storm. Champi is part of a series of intense typhoons as a Super El Niño warms the Pacific Ocean, intensifying storms. At its peak earlier this week, it was the strongest storm of the year so far, boasting wind gusts of 191km/h (119mph).

After passing Taiwan's northeastern tip and the Okinawa islands in southern Japan, the typhoon is expected to hover over China's eastern coast before curving further north towards Japan's main island. While authorities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan forecast the storm's eye would pass without making landfall in Taiwan, a Taiwanese forecaster warned that it could not be completely ruled out, especially if the storm "stalls, loops, or wobbles" as it approaches.

Rainfall is anticipated to peak on Saturday morning and continue to affect Taiwan until Saturday evening. Authorities in Taiwan have advised people to avoid coastal and mountainous areas as the "typhoon holiday" was observed in nearly all of Taiwan's 22 counties and cities, with work and classes suspended. Taiwan's $5tn (£3.7tn) stock exchange was also closed on Friday due to the severe weather.

Only Kinmen county, an archipelago west of Taiwan's main island, continued with normal operations. In Japan, power outages affected approximately 8,400 households in the southern Okinawa prefecture. Over 160 flights across four Japanese airlines were canceled. The typhoon has also caused heavy rains and strong winds in Batanes, a Philippine island chain south of Taiwan, where waves have crashed into seaside villages and roads have been closed.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties. Champi became the strongest storm of the year this week, reaching a maximum sustained wind speed of 185mph (298km/h) as it moved over the Philippine Sea. It is currently the first time since 2013 that Japan has experienced this many storms in a single year, since the country has seen 30 typhoons so far.

The recent increase in typhoon activity is attributed to an unusually strong El Niño, a naturally occurring phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that can trigger extreme weather events such as droughts and typhoons.