Torrential rains from an approaching typhoon battered eastern Taiwan on Wednesday after killing at least 14 people and displacing 154,000 in the Philippines.
At least one death in Taiwan was reported. Local media said a falling tree killed a woman near the southern city of Kaohsiung.
Typhoon Saola was about 160km east of the coastal city of Hualien in the afternoon and had sustained winds of 137km/h and gusts of 173km/h. It was moving slowly but growing stronger and was expected to continue to strengthen.
Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau predicted it would skirt the island's northeast tip early Thursday afternoon.
Parts of northeastern Taiwan already reported rainfall of close to 900 mm by Wednesday afternoon, while the CWB said about one-third of that amount had fallen in suburban Taipei. It could dump more than 1,500 mm of rain in northern Taiwan before moving westward toward the Chinese coast late Thursday.
A major east coast highway was closed because of the typhoon and several hundred people were evacuated from low-lying areas, as mudslides blocked roads and choked off transportation. A river in Ilan county flooded its banks, inundating hundreds of hectares of nearby rice paddies.
The Defence Ministry mobilised 48,000 soldiers to help mitigate the storm's impact, dispatching many to help hard-pressed farmers try to save threatened fruit and vegetable harvests.
Dozens of flights were cancelled at Taipei's main international airport, and the city was expected to come to a virtual standstill Thursday.
The typhoon left at least 14 people dead in the Philippines since Sunday and caused 154,000 to flee their homes.
Fierce rain and wind, compounded by a high tide, swamped a Manila boulevard with garbage-laden water from Manila Bay and forced the US Embassy to close Wednesday. Manila schools were also closed due to sporadic flooding and strong winds.
AP