Typhoon Gaemi live tracker: Taiwan braces for intensifying storm as flights cancelled, offices and schools shut down

Typhoon Gaemi is expected to intensify further as it churns towards the northern part of Taiwan, where it is expected to make landfall later today.

The wind speed of the storm is already around 227 kph (141 mph) near its centre, with a status of a strong typhoon.

According to the Philippines’national forecaster Gaemi could still intensify further and may become a super typhoon over the next 8-9 hours before its landfall in Taiwan.

A super typhoon is a tropical cyclone with sustained surface winds of over 150mph (240kmh), which is comparable to a strong Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane.

Gaemi, which is churning towards Taiwan in the Philippines sea, had sustained wind speeds of 241 kilometres per hour, or 150 miles per hour, which would make it a Category 4 hurricane if it were in the Atlantic Ocean.

At least eight people are dead and more than 600,000 people displaced due to flooding and landslides in the Philippines caused by Typhoon Gaemi, which is locally called Carina.

The storm did not blow inland, but the intense rains they enhanced in the past five days have set off at least a dozen landslides and floods.

In the densely populated region around the Philippines capital Manila, government work and school classes were suspended today after rain flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwater and stranding people in their homes.

Taiwan is bracing for Typhoon Gaemi today with financial markets closed, flights cancelled and offices shut for the day.

Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season, will make landfall on Taiwan’s northeast coast by early evening on Wednesday and move towards China’s Fujian province by Friday.

Schools and work were suspended across Taiwan, and Taipei’s usually busy streets were empty.

“Tomorrow, please stay at home,” Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an wrote on his Facebook page yesterday. “Gaemi, the first typhoon to make landfall this year, continues to strengthen.”