Typhoon Champi Nears Taiwan as Flights Get Cancelled

Typhoon Champi is bearing down on Taiwan, and the island has already issued a land warning as the storm closes in. According to CNA, citing Reuters, the warning came on Thursday, October twenty-second, with the storm expected to brush past the northeastern coast and slowly weaken on approach.

How strong is Typhoon Champi right now?

At one point Typhoon Champi was a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms anywhere in the Pacific this year. It weakened slightly on Thursday, but Taiwan's Central Weather Administration says it is still packing gusts of more than two hundred and twenty-seven kilometres an hour near its centre. That is roughly one hundred and forty-one miles an hour.

The storm's radius has also grown to about three hundred and twenty kilometres, which is wide enough to cover most of Taiwan. Weather experts quoted by Reuters say its impact could last nearly two days, so this is not a quick in-and-out system.

Where is it headed?

Forecasters say the track passes northeastern Taiwan, then turns north toward the Chinese coast in the direction of the seas off Shanghai, before eventually moving into southern Japan. The storm is expected to be at its closest to Taiwan late on Friday, off the northeastern coast. Earlier on Thursday it sat roughly two hundred and fifty kilometres southeast of Yilan County, according to the weather administration.

It is also forecast to pass over Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture. That means two governments are tracking the same monster storm at once.

What Taiwan is doing about it

Coastal towns received mobile phone alerts warning of waves taller than six metres, about twenty feet. Nearly one metre of rain is forecast for northern mountain areas, including the hills near Taipei. That kind of rainfall is why officials keep telling people to stay away from slopes and rivers.

President Lai Ching-te urged the public to get ready now and avoid going to the mountains or the coast. "A little more preparation means less risk," he wrote on Facebook, as reported by The Business Standard, which carried the Reuters report.

Taiwan's transport ministry said one hundred and twenty-five flights were cancelled on Thursday, mostly domestic, while the rail network was so far unaffected. The interior ministry said no evacuations had been reported yet. Taiwan is generally very well prepared for typhoons, which keeps casualties low, even when the storms hit hard.

Flights, ferries and a huge military drill

The disruption is spreading across the region. Reuters reports more than two hundred flight cancellations across the region, and in Japan, Japan Airlines, ANA and Skymark have cancelled more than one hundred flights between Thursday and Sunday, affecting over eleven thousand passengers. Hong Kong carrier HK Express also cancelled ten Taiwan flights for Friday, according to the South China Morning Post.

The storm is also scrambling Keen Sword, a major exercise held every two years around Japanese islands near Taiwan. It rehearses Japan's defence through land, sea and air operations, including missile defence drills and amphibious landings. It began on Monday with about fifty-six thousand Japanese and US personnel, plus forces from five other countries including the Philippines and Australia. The US military says training is being adjusted day by day to keep everyone safe.

What to watch next

If you have travel plans to Taiwan, Okinawa or southern Japan this weekend, check with your airline before heading to the airport. Many carriers are waiving change fees, but policies differ, so confirm directly. Typhoons usually feel like a summer thing, yet autumn storms can hit just as hard, and Champi is a reminder of that.

The next big moment comes late Friday, when the storm is nearest to Taiwan. After that, attention shifts to how it behaves near the Chinese coast and Japan. For more on weather extremes, browse our climate coverage, and we will keep tracking this one as it develops.