Taiwan shuts down ahead of Typhoon Champi as nearly 1,000 flights cancelled

Almost all of Taiwan ground to a halt on Friday, 23 October 2026, as Typhoon Champi menaced the island with torrential rain and fierce wind gusts. Schools, offices, shops, and financial markets closed across nearly the entire island in what is colloquially termed a typhoon holiday, leaving streets quiet while residents hunkered down behind sandbags and metal barriers. As the powerful storm barreled across the world stage, its immense wind radius enveloped most of the territory, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and triggering emergency evacuations from vulnerable mountainous districts.

Although Champi had weakened from its earlier status as a super typhoon—when it ranked among the planet's most potent storms of the year with maximum sustained winds reaching extreme heights—it remained exceptionally dangerous. According to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA), the storm packed gusts of approximately 191km/h near its centre. Forecasters warned that direct landfall could still not be completely ruled out if the sprawling system stalled, looped, or wobbled on its approach. Officials noted that the storm's extensive wind radius spanned roughly 320 kilometres, allowing it to blanket the entire island with squally showers, fierce gales, and mounting flood risks.

Media additions

The human toll and infrastructure strain mounted swiftly on Friday, 23 October 2026. According to BBC News reporting, one person died after being swept away by heavy waves off the coast, while varying casualty counts placed injuries between 94 and 171 individuals. Government figures indicated that thousands of residents were evacuated from landslide-prone and mountainous regions, including areas near a vulnerable landslide dam. Power supplier Taipower confirmed that more than 77,000 homes lost electricity, though utility crews successfully restored power to the vast majority by Friday. Meanwhile, the world's largest contract chipmaker, TSMC, reported that its manufacturing operations continued normally without significant disruption, as detailed by The Straits Times.

Transportation networks experienced severe paralysis. The transport ministry confirmed the cancellation of all 262 domestic flights, alongside hundreds of international and cross-strait departures. Regional carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Scoot grounded multiple services, while neighboring Japanese airlines called off over 160 flights impacting Okinawa and Taiwan routes, according to Lokmat Times. Despite the aviation shutdown, Taiwan's north-south high-speed rail network continued operating as usual, and the Taipei subway maintained reduced services through squally downpours.

Regional neighbors also felt the peripheral fury of the storm system. In Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, power cuts struck thousands of households, and strong gales caused injuries, including a broken leg reported on Miyako island, according to Naharnet. Further south, Philippine authorities in Batanes and Cagayan suspended local classes, boarded up airport windows, and prohibited maritime vessels from venturing into choppy waters as heavy swells battered coastal villages.

Meteorological experts attribute the severity of the season to an unusually powerful El Niño weather phenomenon, which has driven unprecedented ocean warming across the equatorial Pacific. According to Kuwait Times, the United Nations warned that the ongoing climate system is heading off the charts, exacerbating extreme weather events globally. For Japan, Champi represents its milestone 30th typhoon of the year, marking the highest storm frequency recorded in the country since 2013, as noted by BBC News.

What happens next

Typhoon Champi is forecast to complete its brush past Taiwan's northeastern tip, dumping up to nearly a metre of rain in northern mountainous areas through Saturday evening. Weather agencies in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan project that the storm's eye will curve north toward China's eastern coast before sweeping over Japan's westernmost inhabited island of Yonaguni and moving toward the main Japanese islands. Local authorities across Taiwan have urged residents to maintain extreme caution near riverbanks, coastal beaches, and slopes as recovery and damage assessments begin once the weather front clears.