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Taiwan’s transport ministry reported that all 262 domestic flights were cancelled for Friday along with 717 international ones as the island braced for the storm’s impact, while the interior ministry noted that more than 2,600 people had been evacuated from mountainous regions vulnerable to landslides and flooding. The Central Weather Administration placed the typhoon about 220 kilometres east of Taiwan with gusts near its centre reaching 191 kilometres per hour, though the storm had weakened from super typhoon strength earlier in the week. Officials urged residents to avoid coastal and mountainous areas, with national parks and tourist sites closed across most of the island except for the Kinmen islands near the Chinese coast where operations continued normally.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration forecast that Champi would skirt the northeastern coast before turning north toward China and then Japan, with its wide radius of 320 kilometres bringing heavy rain and strong winds to much of the island for nearly two days. The storm killed one person swept away by waves off Taiwan’s southeastern coast and injured 171 others, according to government tallies that also recorded no immediate evacuations beyond those already completed in high-risk zones. Financial markets closed for the day in line with the widespread shutdown that affected schools and most government offices.
Reuters reported that the typhoon disrupted a major US-Japan military exercise called Keen Sword underway near islands close to Taiwan, forcing adjustments to the drills involving thousands of troops. In Japan, carriers including Japan Airlines, ANA and Skymark cancelled more than 100 flights between Thursday and Sunday, affecting over 11,000 passengers mainly on domestic routes. The storm also prompted HK Express to cancel six flights between Hong Kong and Taipei while postponing four others to Saturday, according to the airline’s statement.
The transport ministry’s figures show the cancellations covered services at major airports including Taoyuan, where more than 150 flights were scrubbed, alongside those at Songshan, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Rail services on the western coast continued operating normally even as some ferry links to outlying islands were suspended, the ministry added in its update. Airlines have advised passengers to check for updates on rebooking options without additional fees for those affected by the disruptions.
Taiwan has experienced a series of intense typhoons in recent years, with scientists attributing the trend to warmer Pacific waters under a Super El Niño pattern that fuels stronger storms, according to assessments by regional weather agencies. The Central Weather Administration could not entirely rule out a direct landfall despite most forecasts showing the eye passing offshore, a forecaster told Reuters in a briefing. Preparations drew on the island’s established protocols for such events, which typically limit casualties through early warnings and evacuations.
Hong Kong’s weather authorities raised their warning level as the storm’s outer bands affected the Philippines’ Batanes islands, where photos from local government accounts showed waves crashing into coastal villages and roads blocked. The typhoon is expected to continue weakening as it moves toward southern Japan over the weekend, according to joint forecasts from agencies in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. Authorities in affected areas continue to monitor the storm’s path for any last-minute shifts that could alter the scale of remaining disruptions.
