Typhoon Gaemi Batters Taiwan Port

A small port town in Taiwan is preparing to take a direct hit by the largest typhoon to make landfall on the country in nearly a decade.

Transcript

00:0068-year-old fisher Hong Jun hopes he has done all he can to protect his boat from harm.

00:08He's brought it deep into the harbour of his hometown on Taiwan's east coast, as the largest

00:13typhoon to make landfall in years is barrelling straight towards this port.

00:17A typhoon like this is more dangerous than a typhoon coming straight from the north-west.

00:22There will be a lot of damage. If it's more than mid-level, the typhoon will be very big.

00:28Super Typhoon Kaimi is already bringing to this area winds of 100km per hour and 3-metre

00:34high waves. The hundreds of fishing boats that provide this town of 6,000 people with

00:39its main source of income have all returned here to wait out the storm.

00:44This fishing port is one of the largest in Taiwan. It's protected by surrounded mountains

00:49and for decades, fishing ships have come to find shelter here during the typhoons that

00:54batter Taiwan most summers. But this storm is bigger than most and it coincides with

01:00some of the highest tides of the year.

01:05Residents here are doing what they can to protect their property and local authorities

01:09have banned people from approaching the sea, saying this storm could be deadly.

01:17Global warming and climate change are making the typhoon season more erratic and less predictable.

01:24And although this community was often in the path of typhoons, it's been eight years since

01:46a storm this size made landfall here and there's a worry that over that period of calm, people

01:52here have grown complacent about the sheer power of nature. Alex Chen and Rick Lowatt

01:58in Yilan County for Taiwan Plus.