TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Taiwan hunkered down on Wednesday for the arrival of a strengthening Typhoon Gaemi, with financial markets shut, people getting the day off work and flights cancelled, while the military went on stand-by amid forecasts of torrential rain.

Gaemi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, is set to make landfall on the northeast coast on Wednesday evening, the weather authorities said.

They upgraded its status to a strong typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227 kph (141 mph) near its centre.

After crossing the Taiwan Strait, it is likely to hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian late on Thursday afternoon.

"The next 24 hours will present a very severe challenge," Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told a televised meeting of the emergency response centre.

In rural Yilan county, where the typhoon will first hit land, wind and rain gathered strength, shutting eateries as most roads emptied out.

"This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years," fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding that Yilan's harbour of Suao was packed with boats seeking shelter.

"It's charging directly towards the east coast and if it makes landfall here the damage would be enormous."

Work and school were suspended across Taiwan, with streets almost deserted in the capital Taipei.

The government said more than 2,000 people had been evacuated from sparsely populated mountain areas at high risk of landslides from the "extremely torrential rain".

Almost all domestic flights had been cancelled, along with 201 international flights, the transport ministry said.

All rail operations will stop from midday (0400 GMT), with an abbreviated schedule for high-speed links between north and south Taiwan that will continue to operate, it added.

However, TSMC (2330.TW), the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple (AAPL.O), said it expected its factories to maintain normal production during the typhoon, after it activated routine preparations.

REUTERS

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