Typhoon Gaemi makes landfall in Taiwan
Gaemi, which has landed near the city of Hualien, is expected to be the most powerful storm to hit the island in eight years.
Taiwanese officials said two people had been killed and hundreds more injured.
The island's largest annual military drills have been cancelled, along with almost all domestic flights and more than 200 international flights, according to the transport ministry.
Authorities are warning one of biggest risks comes from the typhoon’s potential to cause landslides and flash flooding, especially on mountainsides destabilised by a large earthquake in April.
On its way to Taiwan, Gaemi also brought relentless rains to large swathes of the Philippines, with floods turning streets into rivers in the capital Manila.
The typhoon is seeing winds of up to 240kmh (150 mph), the equivalent of a category four hurricane in terms of wind strength and destructive potential.
The government has declared Wednesday a typhoon day, suspending work and classes across the island except for the Kinmen islands.
However, chip manufacturing giant TSMC told the BBC that their plants would maintain normal operations.
The storm was originally expected to hit further north, but the mountains of northern Taiwan steered the typhoon slightly south towards the city of Hualien.
The typhoon is expected to weaken as it tracks over the mountainous terrain of Taiwan before re-emerging in the Taiwan Strait towards China.
A second landfall is expected in Fujian Province, China, later on Thursday. 300mm of rain is forecast there and is expected to lead to extensive flooding as the typhoon moves inland and breaks up.
